The Long Goodbye
The Long Goodbye: Memories Of My Father
In The Long Goodbye, Patti Davis describes losing her father to Alzheimer’s disease, saying goodbye in stages, helpless against the onslaught of a disease that steals what is most precious—a person’s memory. “Alzheimer’s,” she writes, “snips away at the threads, a slow unraveling, a steady retreat; as a witness all you can do is watch, cry, and whisper a soft stream of goodbyes.”
She writes of needing to be reunited at forty-two with her mother, of regaining what they had spent decades demolishing. A truce was necessary to bring together a splintered family, a few weeks before her father released his letter telling the country and the world of his illness. The author delves into her memories to touch her father again, to hear his voice, to keep alive the years she had with him.
Moving and honest, an illuminating portrait of grief, of a great man, a disease, and a woman and her father.
Patti, I was deeply touched by The Long Goodbye. Beautifully written and poignant. I traveled this same road but it was my mother who was afflicted with dementia. It is heartbreaking to see our loved one suffer this and it is so difficult for us children. I did not like the role reversal in which I became the parent as my dad had passed away. So I was the caregiver. My heart went out to you in dealing with your dad’s illness. Thank you for sharing your journey with us in this important book. David Packer Pasadena, Ca. 60 years old
Love your family your dad was a inspiration to all. Keep the faith and love to all. Thank you..ps what does it take to get a autograph Pic from you
Sincerely yours
Brian Daggett