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    You Have To Laugh Or Else You'll Cry
    You Have To Laugh Or Else You'll Cry
    You Have To Laugh Or Else You'll Cry
    Ebook50 pages42 minutes

    You Have To Laugh Or Else You'll Cry

    By Ruth Watkins-Leech

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    About this ebook

    This book is a biography of my late Aunt Alice, who, like millions of other people developed Alzheimer's disease. I was responsible for her the last few years of her life after she could no longer live alone. She had quite a sense of humor and could also be difficult.

    I "inherited" my aunt in 1996 and so much has changed since then. I've included many helpful websites and also provide a comparison of costs in the different kinds of facilities that care for Alheimer's patients. I also describe the increase in costs from 1996 to the present for each of these kinds of facilities.

    Anyone who has ever had a loved one with dementia and/or Alzheimer's disease will benefit from and enjoy reading this book.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRuth Watkins-Leech
    Release dateMay 16, 2011
    ISBN9781458182166
    You Have To Laugh Or Else You'll Cry
    Author

    Ruth Watkins-Leech

    Ruth D. Watkins-Leech grew up in the town of Butte, Montana and attended Longfellow Grade School for eight years and graduated from Butte High School. She was on the journalism staff in high school and had her own column, titled Ruthie's Rumors. Right out of high school, Ruth worked as a dental assistant for several years. She went back to college in her late twenties and received an Associate in Science degree in Respiratory Therapy. She interned at Stanford Hospital and then worked for several years at Good Samaritan Hospital in San Jose, California. In her fifties, she traveled extensively with her late husband and wrote travel articles for a magazine titled Lifestyles. Ruth is now retired but enjoys teaching Tai Chi at Gold Country Community Center in Grass Valley, California. She also teaches at an assisted living facility and a convalescent hospital in Grass Valley. All of her compensation is donated to the Gold Country Community Center and to the Sierra Nevada Memorial Hospital Cancer Center. Ruth is a breast cancer survivor. This is her first book. Enjoy!

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      Book preview

      You Have To Laugh Or Else You'll Cry - Ruth Watkins-Leech

      YOU HAVE TO LAUGH OR ELSE YOU’LL CRY

      Ruth D. Watkins-Leech

      Published by Ruth D. Watkins-Leech at Smashwords

      Copyright 2010 Ruth D. Watkins-Leech

      Smashwords Edition, License Notes

      All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted by any means, whether auditory, graphic, mechanical, or electronic, without permission in writing from the author, except in the case of brief excerpts used in articles and reviews.

      Ruth D. Watkins-Leech

      19092 Swallow Way

      Penn Valley, CA 95946

      This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be resold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please buy an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not buy it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and buy your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

      I dedicate this book to all the caregivers out there and I hope this book will be an educational tool for caregivers present and future. Caregivers must take care of themselves in order to care for others. This cannot be stated strongly enough.

      For each copy of You Have to Laugh or Else You’ll Cry sold, a portion of the proceeds will be donated to the Alzheimer’s Research Association and to our local adult day-care program, Helping Hands. I also want to contribute to the local Alzheimer’s Outreach Project, which is operated out of Sierra Nevada Memorial Hospital in Grass Valley.

      Alzheimer’s Research Association

      866 Union Plaza, Suite 508

      New York, NY 10017

      Helping Hands

      Colleen Bond, Chair of the Board

      PO Box 309

      Penn Valley, CA 95946

      Alzheimer’s Outreach Project

      Sierra Nevada Memorial Hospital Foundation

      155 Glasson Way Grass Valley, CA 95945

      Evelyn Donaldson, Coordinator

      (530) 274-6350

      Table of Contents

      Acknowledgments

      Introduction

      Aunt Alice

      Visiting Alice: 1989

      Aunt Alice and the Pine Tree: 1996

      Alice Settles into Her New Home: 1997

      A Big Change: Spring of 1997

      Leaving Banner Crest: 1999

      Alice Is Hospitalized: 1999

      Moving to AMDAL: Fall of 1999

      Addendum

      What we learn to do, we learn by doing.

      --ARISTOTLE

      The second thing to go is the memory,

      and I forgot what the first is.

      --RUTH D. WATKINS-LEECH

      Acknowledgments

      I acknowledge and thank my late husband, John E. Watkins, for all of his support and help with my late aunt. He was my rock during this time. He kept me sane and focused on taking care of myself. John’s humor and love in the face of death blessed and inspired me indescribably. Thank you so much for being my Sugarpuss and for your contagious laugh.

      I am so very grateful for my present husband, Raymond P. Leech, for his loving support and encouragement to forge ahead with this book. Ray has a special talent for living and giving. His humor never ceases to amaze me. He is sweet, romantic, and the best thing that ever happened to me.

      Special thanks to my friend, Sunnee K. Roman, for giving me the information about her publishing editor so I too could use her. Her advice was invaluable when it came to my dilemma regarding writing a dedication and acknowledgments.

      I give lots of kudos to Barbara Larsen for critiquing my book and assisting me with making improvements to it.

      My heartfelt gratitude goes to Karen Bleske, my publishing editor. What a pleasure to work with such a multitalented

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