Every month is special. But for Dylan Weiss, November looms large in its significance! November is the month during which family and friends gather to give thanks. It’s also National Alzheimer’s Awareness month and National Caregivers’ Awareness month. And November is the month in which the author’s late husband, Dave, died after a 20+ year battle with the early onset variety of this dreaded disease. The irony that her new book, “Traveling Our Road,” was published this November by Red Engine Press cannot be ignored!
In the September, 2020 issue of “Nevillewood Living,” the following announcement was made …
“From a host of animals in her Skunk Tales Trilogy Dylan has selected 7 for an upcoming children’s book about Alzheimer’s Disease, aptly titled, Traveling Our Road…”
It took Dylan several years to write this thirty page memoire for children, select an illustrator extraordinaire, and develop a new website …www.authordylanweiss.com
“Traveling Our Road” is a complex story simplified for children of all ages. In it the “Road” becomes a central character shared by Dylan and DJ, both of whom are faced with tragic circumstances, that of DJ’s early onset Alzheimer’s disease and that of Dylan’s role as a caregiver. Sustained by love and commitment, the author explains, via allegory, some of the challenges they faced along their Road and the illustrator makes the story jump off its pages into your heart. Replete with verbal and visual symbolism, the children are invited to consider how they might bring happiness into the lives of impaired loved ones.
According to the Alzheimer’s Association 6 million+ Americans currently suffer from Alzheimer’s disease and more than 11 million caregivers provide an estimated 15.3 billion hours of unpaid care. Given these statistics, imagine the emotional and financial consequences faced by so many families and the variety of difficult roads each must experience. “Traveling Our Road” focuses on the acceptance by the author of caregiver challenges, reveals her use of imaginative humor and writing as coping mechanisms and creates a positive focus giving meaning to DJ’s disease.
The title, “Traveling Our Road,” was taken from an old song, “Side By Side,” also the title of an adult memoire being written now with publication anticipated in late 2023.
Now for your listening pleasure, here is Patsy Cline singing “Side By Side” from her album, “I Fall To Pieces!” Click on the radio and then click the instruction to “Watch on You Tube.” There may be a short ad which you can skip. And, feel free to sing along if you know the words.