Keri Kitay
The Long Goodbye
Tuesday 14th May 2024 - 1-2pm
A powerful mix of memoir and hard-earned knowledge, in The Long Goodbye, Keri Kitay charts her family's poignant and devastating journey after their mother was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's disease.
When Keri Kitay's mother, Terry, was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's disease, nothing could have prepared her family for what lay ahead. The diagnosis and the years that followed rocked their world in unimaginable ways. Reeling but grateful that they still had some time with Terry, the Kitays first had to grieve the life she would no longer have, before losing their mother again in 2019. Keri charts her family's journey: what life was like before Alzheimer's, the lead-up to and the day they got the shattering news, the frustrating challenges of navigating a labyrinthine and often inhumane medical system . . . and most devastatingly, the reality of witnessing the mother they knew and loved slowly disappear. Keri's family would buckle and break down many times through the challenges of caregiving and making difficult decisions - with fleeting and brief moments of bittersweet connection with Terry pushing their grief to the limits. But even while their relationships were under incredible strain, Keri's family knew they had to come together to give their mother the dignified end-of-life experience she richly deserved in place of the life she should have led.
Poignant and moving, The Long Goodbye is a stirring account of a daughter's unwavering love and a heartfelt exploration of what it means to face an incurable disease with grace and dignity. It's a story about ordinary family ties which become extraordinary through necessity, about unbreakable bonds and unconditional love, and what holds us close even in the most heartbreaking of circumstances.