Miriam Green
Author, Poet, Blogger
The Lost Kitchen
Reflections and Recipes
from an Alzheimer's Caregiver
About the Book
Downward Staircase
Learn More...
The Lost Kitchen is an honest look at the hidden gifts of living with a parent with Alzheimer’s. Miriam Green weaves poetry, recipes and anecdotes into a nourishing whole as she details her family’s struggle to maintain balance—and laughter—in the face of her mom's diagnosis and deterioration. Miriam and her mom Naomi remind us how to love and laugh in a world that is often confusing and painful.
I often keep my emotions in check when I think about Mom, or if I’m asked how she’s doing. How do you explain the whole Alzheimer’s phenomenon to someone who is not living it? Will they understand the loss, the frustration of disconnected interaction, the simple encounters that give us joy? Perhaps this is the case with anyone who is ill—the circle of our lives shrinks noticeably.
An estimated 5.7 million Americans live with Alzheimer’s disease, and the numbers are increasing yearly. Alzheimer’s is the sixth-leading cause of death in the United States and the only cause of death among the top 10 that cannot be prevented, cured or even slowed.* It begins with memory loss followed by a gradual decline in cognitive and intellectual performance.
*Alzheimer's Disease Facts and Figures. Alzheimer's Association, 2018.