The Majesty of Your Loving: A Couple's Journey Through Alzheimer's »

Olivia Ames Hoblitzelle is a writer, therapist, and drama teacher. She taught at the Mind/Body Medical Institute, affiliated with Beth Israel and Deaconess Hospitals, where she pioneered how to bring meditation, yoga, and cognitive therapy into the medical domain to treat stress-related and chronic illness. She helped to develop one of the first training programs in Mind/Body medicine in the country and trained health professionals through Harvard Medical School. Her teaching and training are inspired by over thirty years of practice in psychology, Buddhist meditation, and the wisdom traditions. Having taught contemplative practices in a wide variety of settings from government agencies to school systems, she now focuses on elder issues, spirituality, and aging. Olivia has graduate degrees in psychology from Lesley University and in history from Columbia University.

When Olivia and Hob received his diagnosis of Alzheimer's, the enormity of that prospect propelled them to make a pact with one another: they would navigate the illness - consciously and lovingly - to the end. The Majesty of Your Loving: A Couple's Journey Through Alzheimer's is their courageous story. Given this couple's rich background in psychology, Buddhist meditation, and the wisdom traditions, they were able to handle the pain and promise of the illness with unusual thoughtfulness. The author not only writes about the inspirations and spiritual perspectives that sustained them, but gives an intimate account of how they faced loss, crisis, and eventually death. This book has a distinctively positive and uplifting tone, revealing that ultimately their experience was about growing in wisdom and deepening in love. An indispensable guide for anyone dealing with loss, each chapter includes a self-help section with reflections, suggestions, and seed thoughts. This memoir, unique for the its inclusive spiritual orientation, provides both hope and practical approaches to anyone dealing with mental loss or diminishment of any kind.

Foreword     vii
Acknowledgments     xi
Introduction     1
The Arrow of Shock     6
The Grace of Diminishment     35
A Different Truth     63
Get Your Dyin' Done Early     93
You Can't Mess with Bach     116
From Copper to Gold     144
Places Not Previously Visited     171
The Bird That Sings in the Night     195
Ambushed by the Unknown     219
Gonna' Jump Ship     235
A Good Day to Die     256
Postlude: "Dance Me to the End of Love"     275
Clear Light Meditation     283
Caring for Loved Ones in Death     288
Topics for Discussion     291
Notes     298
Selected Bibliography     300
Index     305
About the Author     313