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Author takes on topic baffling to kids and
adults alike
By Bill Whitaker
If you think the idea of a children's book about the dreaded
Alzheimer's disease is unique, you haven't met Kristi Cargill.
She's pretty unique, too.
Tomorrow marks official release of Nana's New Home, a book
by the fetching 20-year-old Hardin-Simmons University pre-med
student. It tackles the prickly question of how to explain Alzheimer's
to children baffled and heartbroken when a beloved relative no
longer recognizes them.
Sure, adult family members have their own struggles, coping
with the challenges of Alzheimer's on their own level. But, Kristi
says, children may suffer silently, wondering, "What's wrong?
Is it my fault? Doesn't Granddad (or Grandma) love me anymore?"
And so this book -- whimsically illustrated by 38-year-old
artist Doug Diener -- follows a little girl whose grandmother
contracts Alzheimer's. The girl struggles to come to grips with
a once-affectionate figure who has trouble remembering things.
Needless to say, it's an unorthodox plot for a children's book.
Alice in Wonderland it ain't. It's a book that speaks of nightmares
of our own times, yet in ways that soothe and reassure the young
in mind.
AMONG THE OLDSTERS
"I don't think you'll see many books about children who
don't understand when their grandparents don't recognize them
anymore," said Gwen Choate Smith, a novelist and free-lance
journalist who agreed to edit Kristi's first effort at children's
literature.
"It was very perceptive of Kristi to recognize this need,
because I think that need is growing. It took someone like Kristi,
with her particular background, to bring this to light."
Kristi's no novice to the ravages of Alzheimer's. The gifted college
student has been working with the elderly as a volunteer much
of her youth and is better aware of their problems than many folks
twice, even thrice her age.
Part of this comes from being the daughter of Pearl Merritt,
now senior vice president of medical services for Sears Methodist
Retirement System, which oversees Windcrest Alzheimer's Care Center.
"I guess that's where I got my love of the elderly,"
Kristi said. "When my mom was director of nurses at Sears,
I would go there instead of going where all the other kids went.
I was about 8. I'd visit with the residents and talk to them about
school. They liked it. At least, I think they liked it."
When I first met Kristi a few years ago, she was a spunky Wylie
High student donating of her time to work with residents at Windcrest
Alzheimer's Care Center. She organized yet other student volunteers
to also work with patients in all stages of the perplexing disease.
But Kristi hasn't stopped at that. She wants others to know
about the disease, in all its ramifications.
"I've always had this idea for a book but didn't get to
it till this past summer," she said. "I originally wanted
to do something based on the volunteer work to make others my
age better understand Alzheimer's. I have seen the pain it causes."
IN THE STEW
To soften the pain in the book, Doug Diener was brought in
to provide soft, engaging illustrations, many of them centering
on a stuffed rabbit who, in the girl's troubled dreams, advises
and consoles the child (and in rhyme, no less).
"The rabbit tells her that even though Nana will forget
her in time," Kristi said, "they will always have that
bond of love."
The rabbit -- a pivotal member in the book -- was modeled after
"Stew," a real-life, drolly dubbed rabbit used by volunteers
at Windcrest.
"She had the story, it was all there," Gwen said
of Nana's New Home and Kristi's initial plotline. "I just
edited it like I've edited anything else. Of course, I suggested
we change the name of the rabbit from Stew to Webster!"
No sense planting the ugly notion Stew might wind up in the
stew pot. Apparently, breaking the topic of Alzheimer's to young
fry was quite enough without suggesting the rabbit might be fried.
Doug, who got into art "after I got kicked out of choir
class at Mann Middle School" and today works as an illustrator
at Hist & Fritz, said his artwork takes a cue from Kristi's
upbeat text.
"The thought of doing any illustration for this book in
some dark, depressing manner just never came to me," he said.
"When I was doing this, I drew from my own grandmother. She
did not die of Alzheimer's, but I was very close to her. I think
the happiness of those memories of her came through."
FOR A GOOD CAUSE
Pretty much as I'd expect from Kristi, proceeds from her book
will benefit the Windcrest benevolent care fund, set up to care
for those residents whose own finances for such care is little
or nothing.
Several versions of the book are being printed to tailor the
story to specific institutions, one of them being Windcrest. This
novel approach and the book's unique aim have already won Kristi
and her creative team plaudits.
"It's really remarkable it was a young college student
who picked up on this need and acted on it," said Keith Perry,
chairman of the Texas Association of Homes and Services for the
Aging. "I think it speaks a lot of her perception and her
ethics.
"Up till now, we really haven't recognized that children,
too, have a right to understand diseases such as Alzheimer's,
and at a level they can understand," he said. "This
is an idea for cancer, diabetes and all kinds of diseases."
Considering Kristi's other activities, including working in
HSU's biology lab, writing for the school paper, working as a
volunteer for Hospice of Abilene and serving as a mentor in Project
Pass, the real miracle is she even had time to put together a
book.
Although Kristi Cargill's book will soon be stocked at local
book stores, it will be available at a reception honoring the
author 2:30 p.m. Tuesday at Windcrest Alzheimer's Care Center,
6050 Hospital Drive, right behind Abilene Regional Medical Center.
For more information, call 692-1533.
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1997, Abilene Reporter-News / Texnews / E.W. Scripps. Publications
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