Author Meryl Comer, on the left, is with Reconnections Mount Vernon Advisory Council members, Virginia Hodgkinson and Virginia Martin, after discussing with attendees her memoir "Slow Dancing with a Stranger: Lost and Found in the Age of Alzheimer's."
At the Aldersgate United Methodist Church, author Meryl Comer discussed her book, "Slow Dancing with a Stranger: Lost and Found in the Age of Alzheimer's," a personal memoir, recounting her last 20 years as a caregiver, first for her husband and now for her mother, both with Alzheimer's disease. Following her June 9 presentation, she conducted a Town Hall-type meeting, answering questions and discussing issues and problems she encountered.
The event was sponsored by the Insight Memory Care Center, AARP, The Goodwin House, and the Reconnections Advisory Council. Reconnections is a local club for retired business and professional men with mild to moderate memory problems that meets each Thursday from 10:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. at Aldersgate Church, located at the corner of Collingwood and Fort Hunt roads. The weekly event is sponsored by the Insight Memory Care Center, a nonprofit service organization located in Fairfax, Virginia. A professional facilitator is provided for each session of socialization and stimulation for the participants.
A typical session includes: arrival coffee; topic of the day discussion which participants prepare reports the previous week; an invited outside speaker or performer; lunch; and mental and physical games and exercises. Retired business and professional men such as members of Mount Vernon At Home, Don Peterson and Ross Hunt, serve as volunteer assistants. A fee is charged; however, scholarships, medicaid, are available for those who cannot afford the fee.