The time is the twentieth century. Immense change and upheaval defined the age. And it's still happening as Anna revisits her past. The present reappears randomly as an elusive memory that evades her consciousness like a recurring dream. Drifting between the past and present, she is visited by the ghosts of loved ones that have come to lead her to the final stage of her life.
It is believed by some that at the moment of death our lives pass before us and the spirits of our loved ones come for us, leading us through a tunnel of light to the other side. For Anna, living the end of her days with Alzheimer's disease, she is doing that. But it is not in a single moment. She has been given the time to accept the transition and to celebrate it.
Dear Susan,
I know you are grieving. Already, the memory of our last moment together is fading so that you doubt you were really with me on the shore where I left. You smelled the sea and touched the sands but it was while you slept. Yes, the dream was real but, as a dream, you are so willing to dismiss it. Believe in your fears and you will be haunted. However, if you believe in yourself, you are ready to hear my story.
I am the soul that grew and thrived as your mother, Anna Metz Segal. You observed how I struggled with my fading consciousness when the time came to leave. I was afraid, requiring assistance and guidance. It was similar to the way I had tossed and turned at nights, drifting in and out of a restless sleep. Again, as in childhood, I could call to those who loved me to come, to chase away the shadows. And they came, not consoling me that the shadows weren’t there, but assuring me I was safe.
Awaking in the present as Anna, I'd often be troubled and confused. The separation of body and soul was already in progress and I often didn't recognize my surroundings or those around me. I was groggy and needed to return to the visions and spirits that so compelled me. They helped me understand that it was I who must give up Anna. But I couldn’t. I held onto her like a child clings to a favorite toy.
The doctors labeled my condition Alzheimer’s disease. How frightening that sounded to you because you didn't know what I was going through. In the fog of an alien present, the ability to communicate only further jumbled my reality, so that I couldn’t explain. I was living in the past, experiencing it as the present. While your present had already ceased to exist for me. The present became the past and the past the present. Time had warped. Truly, I became a ghost of myself.
Now, as we meet again, only within the dream, I will try to share this with you. It is my hope you may understand better what I went through. Often I was afraid but most of the time I understood that the visions were carrying me forward. It is not my intention to relieve your fears. Fear is in the body. It heightens our senses, puts us on alert and can protect us. But we mustn’t cling to our fears then we become paralyzed so that we refuse to see or hear.
Imagine that you've taken a journey. You take a wrong turn and become lost. Within a few minutes you realize that there is no obvious route that will take you back and you panic. The environment looks alien and hostile. Alzheimer’s is such an environment to you. I have traveled in a direction you need not be going. My journey is one you need not take. My road is shrouded in fog so that it seems I travel blind. Be patient and at times you will see the fog lift.
It is my desire to come to you, as one who has loved and frightened you, to let you know that there is meaning in all life’s journeys. We are born with it and will die with it. Mine may have seemed to be a simple life from the outside but it was the life I required. Come with me as I return . . .
Excerpt
Begin the voyage in a ship,
Sail straight across the sea.
When land is reached
Disembark.
Taking only the memories.
Professional Reviews
Back Cover Review 1
" ...Roselyn Kachuck..., illuminates the life of a person with Alzheimer's disease...with an exploration of the subtleties of the human soul. I cannot recommend this book highly enough. It was a joy to read it."
-Sandy Goldin, author,The Vanity Murders and A Friend in Need
Back Cover Review 2
"Roselyn Kachuck gives us an extraordinarily comforting look at life and death as a continuous circle of spiritual being and puts fort a belief in the reincarnation of a soul that never really dies. The Memory Lingers On, is an enlightening and engrossing "good read" for anyone interested in a story with a smart lesson."
-Bonita R. Selting, Ph.D. Professor of Writing University of Central Arkansas
Review #3
The story of Anna, an Alzheimer’s patient, is told in a series of flashbacks as she relives remembered moments. Her life is a microcosm of the dynamic changes of the 20th century. This story of an ordinary individual and her family tells of the struggles of a generation – women’s issues, Jewish issues, American issues, universal issues. I like the way the reader is always kept informed of the time frame for the experiences. In the end, despite her debilitating disease, the story continues to be told from Anna’s point of view. Told with clarity and compassion, “The Memory Lingers On” is an argument for the dignity of the soul. Elegant, bright and easy to read, this is must reading for anyone who has suffered along with an Alzheimer’s patient and for anyone who is interested in life’s meaning and the trials of the soul.
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