Keeping Love Alive as Memories Fade: The 5 Love Languages and the Alzheimer's Journey Paperback – Illustrated, September 14, 2016

Keeping Love Alive as Memory Fades is a marvelous, insightful book about how to navigate the Alzheimer’s road with grace and love. Dr. Shaw speaks from experience. His wife was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s at age 53. Using Gary Chapman’s five love languages Shaw has helped many families who are faced with a loved one losing memory to the point of no return. Each of us has a specific way (language) that communicates love from others. The five languages are: words of affirmation, quality time, receiving gifts, acts of service, and physical touch. Many couples’ stories highlight the book, painfully describing the course of the disease and also the way the five love languages are helpful. The book also gives information and statistics about Alzheimer’s disease with diagrams and explanations about different types of the disease. The five love languages assessment is included in the book so readers can learn their own love language. Three very helpful appendices are included. Keeping Love Alive will be helpful for couples, caregivers, family and friends of those facing Alzheimer’s. This is an excellent resource that will help us be more graciously helpful to others in extreme need.

Great read will definitely help on this journey as you learn along the way.

I really enjoyed reading this book and loved how the authors incorporated the 5 languages of love into it. They also use a lot of examples from different couples dealing with different types of dementia which I thought was very helpful as not everyone is dealing with the same issues or type of dementia. I love how the authors attacked this topic from various points of view without being overly personal where most other books only touch on the subject with a page or less they realize this is a real issue many families (not just spouses) deal with and needs to be addressed. Highly recommend this book for all families of loved ones with dementia as it is invaluable for everyone who has a loved one with dementia - Mother, Sister spouse...it was so helpful on so many levels. A must read - highly recommend this book

Purchased for a family member whose mate has been recently diagnosed with dementia. Very helpful. Many great suggestions to help family and the patient. Highly recommend.

Awesome book on how to let love be the foundation of caring for a loved one.

The stories shared in this book seem so real to me as I too am helping an older family member who has dementia.I no longer use the phrase, "dealing with" when I talk about helping a parent with dementia.I also have stopped trying to change her as I now understand, it's the disease that is causing her to do what she is doing.I recommend this for anyone with aging adult parents as you never know when you too will need to help someone with these diseases.

We are currently dealing with these issues in our family and this book has been incredibly helpful in understanding stages and helping to love the one with dementia and their care partners

The progressive decline of cognitive functions deeply grieves all who care for people with dementia/Alzheimer’s. There is loss on so many levels; but in Deborah Barr, Ed Shaw, and Gary Chapman’s new book, Keeping Love Alive As Memories Fade, they make these encouraging statements: “Truly, the deep human need for love does not disappear with a diagnosis of dementia… The impact of the love languages is due, in part, to the amygdala, a brain structure not immediately affected by the disease… Despite their difficulty in connecting thoughts, people with dementia are still able to feel deeply” – Keeping Love Alive As Memories Fade, 2016, p. 42. This research-based truth provides the premise for all the practical suggestions about how to show love to people in various stages of dementia or Alzheimer’s. The love they urge is the Old Testament understanding of hesed (see soundbite). Another must-have book for caregivers.