Alzheimer's, Romance, and Intimacy

You will never regret being kind to your spouse. 

In a strong marriage, the sexual expression of love is the sinew that ties two hearts together and forms the kind of bond we depend on to get us through life's greatest challenges. As we age, the intensity of physical passion burns more ember than flame, but the bonds of love can be just as strong, even stronger, than ever. 

Alzheimer's forces a wedge in the relationship. Caregiver stress is more devastating than you imagined. Frustration and Anger barge into your home and wreak havoc in your daily world. Anticipatory grief destroys your dream of the future. 

Whether the dementia caregiving journey takes a few years or a decade or more, love doesn't fade from a strong marriage. The challenge is learning how to express that love in a new way. 

After marrying more than 150 couples, publishing 3 historical romance novels with Harper Collins, and being married for 41 years to a man I loved deeply, I've learned some things about weddings, romance, intimacy, and dementia. I share a few of those thoughts in this episode.  

Mentioned in the episode: 

John van Gurp's YouTube channel: John and Heather's Dementia Journey

Be sure to listen to episode 28 about how using improv can help caregivers enter the world of their loved one. Let me know if you'd like to be part of an online improv class where all the participants are dementia family caregivers.

I'm working a future episode about how it feels to have to care for a family member with dementia when you would never refer to that person as your "loved one." If that's you, please contact me. Email: [e-mail]