Welcome to Litsy!

In 2009, Emily Page’s father was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia, a form a dementia that strikes earlier and progresses more quickly than Alzheimer's, and for which there is no treatment to slow the progression of the disease. She began documenting in writing and art her family’s heartbreaking and hilarious experiences. As a professional artist, she had often turned to art as a self-prescribed therapy to help deal with life's trials. This battle was no different. She utilized the elephant as a symbol for dementia, and incorporated sheet music into the paintings because her dad had been a jazz musician. Eventually, she created 40 paintings that are included in this book. At the insistence of a friend, she also began blogging about the range of issues that arose daily as the disease progressed, documenting everything from her own fear of getting dementia, to her dad’s transition to diapers (and the various places he opted to drop his drawers and just “go” regardless of the diapers), to combatting his compulsions, to the best ways to make him giggle, to an exploration of how he might have gotten the disease. Page doesn’t shy away from the ugly, raw emotion of life with dementia, but she also looks for the laughter where it can be found. Rest assured, you will love her father as much as she does when the book is done, and maybe gain some insight about how to cope with your own loved one’s dementia or to support a caregiver.