
Over the last two years, I have been posting Peter's thoughts about living with dementia. Often these were thoughts which came to him late in the day. I would receive them as a text message and then, as soon as they were sent, they effectively ceased to exist for Peter. Sometimes they were whimsical thoughts, sometimes they were poetic and often they were simply just moving. Many of you who follow Peter on Facebook had commented that they ought to be put into a book. Well, I have been saving and collating these 'poems' or musings and am delighted to say we have put them into a book and the book is now available to buy on Amazon: Walk With Me: Musings Through The Dementia Fog.
This book captures Peter's thoughts and, alongside his words, are some stunning photographs of Suffolk taken by Daniel Ruffles danielianphotography.com. I met Dan randomly, as one does, in the George Farnham Gallery here in Saxmundham. I found his photographs evocative; they captured the essence of the Suffolk countryside and coast which I have grown to love and that Peter knows and loves so well. I knew that these photographs would be the perfect accompaniment for Peter's words. With additional photography by our friend, Charmian Berry, the book is the result of a promise that I made to Peter and to those Facebook followers.
Huge thanks go to Sheila Marsh for providing the front cover. Sheila is Sue Strachan's partner and they met Peter and Teresa during the filming of the "The Restaurant That Makes Mistakes". Sue, who is also living with dementia, Teresa, Sheila and Peter became good friends and have remained in contact despite the geographical distance between them. The front cover depicts Peter in the forest, trying to capture those elusive words with a butterfly net. But to me, the drawing also symbolises the enduring nature of a friendship forged through dementia and it proves that a light can still shine brightly through the darkness of the dementia shadows.
My husband was diagnosed 3 years ago with dementia after he began to lose things. He would accuse someone of stealing, even in the night. He was on medication but his symptoms progressed to anger and short fuse over little things. This was a man who was soft spoken, slow to anger and gentle. It was such a change for us to try to manage a whole new way of living. He is 67, I'm 66 and I felt so stressed sometimes. I didn’t know what each day will start with. I retired in April that year and was with him 24/7. I have been researching for a while now, and I think this has helped. Have you ever come…