Ill Parent

Through the suffering and hardships you’ll see a remarkably strong woman emerge, whose extraordinary resolve brought her through the ashes as she gripped her faith and found the strength to soar. Every painful experience grew her unwavering bravery and eventually catapulted her into the arms of Jesus. She also brings light to the epidemic of mental illness and how it is time to erase the stigma in our society and in the church.

A beautiful piece of writing through the eyes of a mother and physician, Maureen Michele’s book explores the problems that parents with chronically ill children commonly face. She teaches about the foundation of resilience and the development of courage for parental advocacy. The book helps parents overcome self-neglect and discusses the strength of asking for help.

Elizabeth Berg’s father was an Army veteran who was a tough man in every way but one: He showed a great deal of love and tenderness to his wife. Berg describes her parents’ marriage as a romance that lasted for nearly 70 years; she grew up watching her father kiss her mother upon leaving home, and kiss her again the instant he came back. His idea of when he should spend time away from her was never. But then her father developed Alzheimer’s disease, and her parents were forced to leave the home they loved and move into a facility that could offer them help.

Growing up with a mother suffering from paranoid schizophrenia and a mostly absent father, Nikki Grimes found herself terrorized by babysitters, shunted from foster family to foster family, and preyed upon by those she trusted. At the age of six, she poured her pain onto a piece of paper late one night - and discovered the magic and impact of writing. For many years, Nikki's notebooks were her most enduing companions. In this accessible and inspiring memoir, Nikki shows how the power of those words helped her conquer the hazards - ordinary and extraordinary - of her life.

Annette Januzzi Wick wants to find the perfect care home for her proud, Italian mother, who is slipping further into dementia. In this memoir, she shares gripping truths about mistakes she makes before ultimately finding a place where her mother develops a crush, heckles an Elvis impersonator, and magically bonds with her daughter through Frank Sinatra’s songs.