With the fast-paced life we lead now, it was the author’s goal to recapture a time when family was the most important to everyone. She also wanted to capture, with quotes from the many letters her dad wrote to her mother about his experience in Europe during World War II, the undying love that he had for his wife. Her parents were truly remarkable people who had more than enough love to raise their adopted twins and set them on the right path in life. The author has written a beautiful tribute to her father and mother. “DOC” is a feel-good story that is equal part biography, autobiography, travelogue and love story sure to make you laugh and cry all in the same paragraph.
Preface: Mother walked into the living room with an armload of groceries. As she walked past Dad, she noticed that he was holding a large magnifying glass in front of him. He was trying to watch the television but he couldn’t see it. Mother laid her hand on Dad’s arm and told him that she was home. He patted her hand and peered back through the glass in his hand. He hardly spoke at all now. His brain would not allow him to put words together. Mother went on into the kitchen and set the groceries down. She began to weep. Dad had been such a vibrant man and now he was just a shell and to add to that he couldn't even see the television. She had promised herself that Alzheimer’s may take his brain and ultimately his life, but she was going to make him as comfortable as she possibly could in this end of his life. She asked my brother, who had been keeping an eye on Dad, to stay awhile longer. She was going out right then to get Dad a big screen television. If he could get some pleasure from watching television, she would make sure he could see it without having to use a magnifying glass. Alzheimer’s is a very debilitating disease that slowly erodes the brain. At first, it’s just forgetfulness, maybe forgetting where you were going or where you parked the car or what you were talking about. As it progresses, family members are not recognized and it ends with a total loss of all function…
