The Silverado Story gives a glimpse into the future of care for those with memory impairment.
Life doesn’t have to end when Alzheimer’s dementia or other memory-eroding diseases take hold. At least that’s what Alzheimer’s futurists Loren Shook and Steve Winner believed. But it wasn’t until these two men, from widely divergent backgrounds and living three thousand miles apart, came together that their ideas were put into action and their theories were put to the test – with stunning results. They brought living back to people stricken with memory impairing ailments, and loving back to families who thought they had lost a precious part of themselves.
The “Silverado Story” is about uniquely vibrant and active care for those with memory impairment. It is about two men who had the courage to follow their own hearts. Even more, it is about hope and happiness – and how to achieve it – for those who have all but given up. It is the eye-opening and inspirational story of what can happen when love replaces fear.
The Silverado Story is now on sale at www.silveradostory.com
Here is an Exerpt from the book:
Chapter 2
What makes life worth living? We are each a patchwork quilt of individual likes, dislikes, ambitions, desires, experiences, and genetic potpourri. But when you lay the quilts side by side and examine them, you see the stitching that unites the squares.
In all of us, there is the need to love and be loved. A need to be understood and appreciated, to surge through the day with purpose, bask in the warmth and light of sunshine, connect with animals, children, flowers, and simple pleasures the earth yields up to us. These are the things that feed our spirit.
Silverado knows these needs never change, regardless how altered a person appears to be by Alzheimer’s disease or any other memory disorder.
For those of us with unimpaired memory, life is linear. We’re born; we grow into children, teenagers, adults. Last year, this year, yesterday, today, tomorrow, this happened and that happened. But for people with Alzheimer’s and similar conditions, today could be 20 years ago. An adult child is mistaken for a long-deceased mother. When those we love start stepping off the straight line, we try desperately to refocus them to normal. No, today is Tuesday. I’m not your mother; I’m your daughter. Don’t you remember you already ate lunch?
When we realize we can’t fix their memories, many of us turn away, withdrawing into our own pain. What’s the point of trying to connect when they won’t remember, anyway? What’s the point of anything, other than keeping these frail and confused people safe, comfortable, clean, and fed?
Silverado is a memory-care organization that knows the vision isn’t really about memory. It’s about reaching and nurturing the human spirit inside each memory-impaired person. It doesn’t matter what the day of the week is. What matters is that the day gives meaning.
