“Sometimes like a fine wine or a delicious meal that requires time to marinade, so too are the thoughts that go into a book. The late 2016 upcoming release of Memories, Mama, & Me- A Caregiver’s Story is that and more. Look for it on Amazon sometime during the holidays. Below is just a taste from Author Cynthia Alliece Utley.”

 

INTRODUCTION

My name is Cynthia Alliece Utley. It is my maiden and my only name. I have no children. Whatever legacy I leave in this life will rest in the memories of others created by the deeds I have done, and the love I have shared.

For nearly all of you reading this book, it will be your first introduction to me. So who am I, that I am worthy of your precious moments that truly are every breath of this life?

Indeed, I am the daughter of Claudia Utley, who was the loving wife of Elsa Utley, and mother to Pam, William, and Kerwin Utley- the inspiration to many in the simple yet dedicated life that she lived.

I am every bit the culmination of who she was to me- mother, mentor, counsellor, friend. And so you will understand when I say it does not offend me that you do not know my name, for we are strangers.

But in the journey of the long goodbye, the moniker which has been so aptly ascribed to Alzheimer’s, memories, the ties that bind family, friend, and foe alike are lost to the vacuum of living emptiness.

Vessels of such emptiness are often discarded to the care of those unable to be pained by things un-remembered, caricatures occasionally visited by those for whom the vessel may as well passed with the memories; just waiting for the two to meet in death.

But that would not be the fate of Claudia Utley- not so long as I breathed and her memories dwelled within me.

In the absence of my own children, I became mother to her memories and caretaker to her vessel. This is the story of that wonderful journey through her final years, what I learned, the people who were both a blessing and were blessed through the experience, and the wisdom to be shared from Memories, Mama, & Me- A Caregiver’s Story.

There were many times, I had to remind Mama of my name, and that was ok. It was always ok. Because Alzheimer’s could never take away who she was to me.

I learned that it takes two to say goodbye. Alzheimer’s may have spoken for my mother, but love, had the last word- as you are now welcomed and invited to read.