"An eye-opening – and at times jaw-dropping – account of a son’s care for his mother with Parkinson’s dementia that will make you weep with its tenderness and compassion."
For centuries much has been written about a mother’s love for her son, fewer words have been dedicated to the reverse.
When his controlling elderly father becomes a danger to his aged mother, Shaun Deeney takes the decision to place his mother in a charming care home. Later, following his father’s sudden death, he takes the unusual decision to remove her from the care home and to provide for her himself, in the family home, with the assistance of paid-for carers.
So unheard of is this, the care home themselves have never heard of anyone doing it before and no-one even knows what forms are required. The softly spoken truth is that residents rarely leave such places until their final journey.
What follows is an endearingly candid account of Denney facing down his doubts, and those of others, to provide the very best care for his Mother. In so doing he rediscovers the Mother he loves but hardly knows and forgoes his ‘new-found freedom’ as a divorcee to embrace his role as a dutiful caring son.
With diversions into his daughter-assisted forays into internet dating, and his quest for love and a relationship, Deeney writes with engaging honesty and humour on the mistakes and triumphs of his decisions and explores the power of forgiveness, tolerance and understanding in this affecting account of what it means to be a son, a father and a man who faces up to the responsibilities of all three.
His generosity of spirit in sharing the truth of his experience makes this a highly readable tale of redemption and a celebration of love’s many hues.
The LoveReading LitFest invited Shaun Deeney to the festival to talk about Love & Care.
The digitally native, all year round, online literature and books festival, with new content released every week is a free-for-all-users festival.
What are you waiting for? Check out a preview of the event and sign up to become a member.
| Primary Genre | Biographies & Autobiographies |
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