Roberts explains Alzheimer’s stages in ‘Midnight Chronicles’

MADISON – In “Midnight Chronicles,” Betty Roberts explains the stages of Alzheimer’s disease that her late husband faced and the care that she extended to him.

Roberts hopes that the public will observe symptoms during early onset of Alzheimer’s so families can intervene and help.

While taking an extension course with Vanderbilt University, Roberts wrote her first book, “Leaning Into the Wind” about widowhood. “My first husband had just passed away. I had five children, four still at home,” she said.

Writing helped her to deal with grief, stress, sleeplessness and other problems. “After five years of widowhood, I remarried, and my husband’s two children expanded to seven in our family.”

In January 2009, Roberts tackled her suspicions that her husband, Roy, was in early stages of Alzheimer’s disease. She started a journal to cope with stress. “Being a registered nurse, I didn’t have to be told the road ahead was going to be tough,” Roberts said.

Months later, she was talking to a well-educated individual about Roy’s stage of Alzheimer’s. The individual “wasn’t aware that Alzheimer’s had stages. If he didn’t know, how many others didn’t know?”

“Midnight Chronicles” explains the seven stages of Alzheimer’s and actions that Roberts and family/friends took to combat each stage. “My book may have made these signs and symptoms a little more recognizable,” Roberts said. “Sometimes, recognizing that a behavior is a part of the disease makes it easier to handle.”

“Almost anyone interested in mental incapacities, Alzheimer’s, senile dementia or stroke victims may benefit from reading ‘Midnight Chronicles,'” she said. “It isn’t fiction: it is a detailed depiction of the many problems encountered in daily coping.”

“I tried to bring relief from the day-to-day realities by quoting others wiser than I,” Roberts said.

Roberts worked as a registered nurse after graduation from the University of Virginia.

In spare time, Roberts plays with her six-month-old Jack Russell terrier named Jac Reacher. “He’s about all I can handle right now.”

“Midnight Chronicles” is available on Amazon and at Barnes & Noble or by emailing betts07pr@gmail.com. For more information about Alzheimer’s disease, call 256-880-1575 or visit alz.org.