Heart-wrenching and laugh-out-loud funny account of Kayce Lassiter's efforts to care for an aging deaf mother sliding into the darkness of dementia in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. How had this become my life? When had my previously almost magical life sprouted wings and been replaced with day after day in a circus fun house...one with mean clowns determined to suck the ever-loving life from me?
A year ago, my life was all about writing, marketing, going to writer's conferences, and having my picture taken with gorgeous male cover models. Now I'm suddenly nursemaid to my mother--a deaf drama queen sinking into the abyss of dementia who hallucinates bugs that fart black clouds of poison. And if that isn't enough, let's just add a flipping pandemic, social distancing, and product shortages into the mix. Why not?
Totally inappropriate thoughts and stories about living with an extremely dramatic mother afflicted with dementia, who was also a deaf sign-language user. How I dealt with the insanity and chaos on the days that I could, and how I didn't on the days that I couldn't.
This book is not a soft, touchy-feely, sweet story about how to love and coddle your parent suffering from dementia. It's not a medical look into the disease, and it's not a how-to manual giving you all the ins and outs of how to deal with dementia. In fact, I recommend you do not follow my example.
It is my attempt at figuring out how to survive inside the insane asylum that had become my mother's mind. It's about how it sometimes takes dark humor to retain your own sanity amidst the turmoil, about how laughter can be OKAY when it is the only thing keeping you from slipping over the bleeding edge of crazy. It's about how totally inappropriate behavior can sometimes be the only thing that allows you to live inside the chaos your life has morphed into.
If you are uncomfortable with dark, sarcastic humor or extremely offended by curse words, then this book IS NOT for you.
But if you're the person who understands that sometimes you have to hang off the edge a bit in order to keep it all together inside your own mind, who understands that sometimes sanity-retaining laughter can be totally inappropriate and totally necessary, who is perhaps a person trying to navigate the landmines of a loved one's dementia yourself, then settle in and keep reading. This book is most definitely for you.
Amanda Cabot, bestselling author - "
Life with a Demented Drama Queen is a book that deserves to be read."
P. A. Dycus - "While the subject matter of this story is emotional, Lassiter is able to deliver it in page-turner fashion. This is a must read for everyone, whether you are a medical or care-giving professional, a family member facing the decline of a loved one, or just someone looking for an inspiring real-life story."
Cassie Ryan, author of My Obsession - "A strong dose of reality during a world-wide pandemic, a large dollop of humor, and a whole lot of love. Within the span of a few pages, it made me both cry and laugh out loud. Highly recommended."
