August 7 – Patience, Alzheimer’s and the Gift of Heartbreak: One daughter’s story

Rosemary will share with you her personal struggle caring for her mother with Alzheimer’s; through the practice of patience, she overcame anger and heartbreak and became her mother's best friend. Since then, Rosemary has become a national leader in the field of dementia care; five foundations now support her upcoming multimedia website, This Caring Home.

Rosemary is certified interior designer with a Masters in Gerontology. She is author of Elderdesign: Designing and Furnishing a Home For Your Later Years (Penguin Books, 1997) and a faculty member of the Weill Medical College of Cornell University. Her upcoming book, Universal Design and Healthy Longevity: Easy Home Makeovers for the 50+ will be published in 2009. She is the Director of This Caring Home, a multimedia website for caregivers of dementia (to launch end of 2008). She considers her mother who had Alzheimer’s disease, and her husband who lives with grace with cancer, two of her greatest teachers.