“With deep respect and a daughter's devotion, Drobnick explores the delicate power of memory and the friendships that shape us. Ultimately, her snapshots in time create a beautiful mosaic of anticipatory grief and unbreakable bonds.”—Samantha Rose, author of Giving Up the Ghost: A Daughter's Memoir
“Our Long Goodbye is a poignant, vulnerable, and at times heartbreaking story of how dementia leaves an indelible mark on our lives. Through the story of her dad’s life, Drobnick uncovers the power of dementia to simultaneously bring people together in ways we could have never imagined while also fundamentally changing the nature of those relationships. A universally resonant contribution to our understanding of what it means to be a resilient human.”—Kaitlin Casaletto, PhD, ABPP-CN, associate professor in the department of neurology at the Memory and Aging Center, UCSF
“With interweaving chapters that tell the harrowing story of a father's descent into Alzheimer’s, this is a tender portrait of enduring relationships. Drobnick is both a loving daughter and a brave writer, tending to her father both in life and in the pages of this beautiful book.”—Monica Wesolowska, author of Holding Sivan
“A beautifully written tribute that captures both the heartbreak of Alzheimer’s and the enduring power of love, friendship, and family. An absolute treasure.”—Cherie Kephart, author of A Few Minor Adjustments
“Told through Teri’s tender, observant eyes, this is a story about the true meaning of devotion: the agonizing pain of watching a mind disappear, the fierce beauty of a friendship that refuses to surrender, and the heartbreaking realization that love transcends memory.”—Mona Halaby, author of In My Mother’s Footsteps: A Palestinian Refugee Returns
“What a lovely, heartwarming story of two friends in sickness and in health. The importance of friends like Bob in the lives of persons like Bobby, suffering from dementia, cannot be underestimated. Bobby’s daughter brings the story of their friendship to life with warmth and tenderness.”—Gayatri Devi, MD, MS, FAAN, clinical professor of neurology at the Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell and director of Park Avenue Neurology
“In Our Long Goodbye, Drobnick tells the story of her father, from his earliest years to his death from Alzheimer’s in his late eighties. Through it all, Bobby emerges as an individual whose life was lived in the fullest, even though Alzheimer’s disease took much of it from him. The power and benefits of telling the story of one life are vivid and palpable. Alzheimer’s may end a life, but it cannot erase the memory of who the person was and is.”—Peter V. Rabins, MD, MPH, professor emeritus at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, coauthor of The 36-Hour Day, and author of Is It Alzheimer’s?
“Like Drobnick’s, my father remained loving and became childlike in the throes of Alzheimer’s. Our Long Goodbye brought me right back to the days of sitting and simply holding his hand, of hoping he would remember my name, of loving the person who still inhabited my father’s body but wasn’t my ‘dad’ any longer. This memoir is a well-written, artfully rendered, and deeply personal story of family and a friendship that transcended long years and staggering challenges. It touched my heart with every page turned—it will touch yours too.”—D. J. Green, author of No More Empty Spaces
“This tender and moving memoir celebrates a father’s rich life and his compelling legacy. Teri documents her dad’s remarkable lifelong friendship with his best friend while also skillfully describing the sorrow, confusion, growth, and deepened connections she experiences as she shepherds him through Alzheimer’s. Her memoir is a testament to friendship and devotion that both inspires and informs.”—Deborah Shouse, author of Love in the Land of Dementia