Скачать или смотреть Ep 053 The Silver Lining of Alzheimer’s: When Caregiving Becomes a Relationship of Pure Connection

What happens when caregiving quietly replaces the identity you thought you had?
In this deeply moving conversation, Deborah Greenhut speaks with author and longtime caregiver Eliezer Sobel, whose experience caring for his mother through 20 years of Alzheimer’s disease reshaped everything he thought he knew about love, grief, identity, and connection.

Eliezer shares the moment he realized caregiving had “chosen” him, how his mother’s excellent physical health complicated assumptions about end-of-life care, and why he came to believe that memory is not the foundation of love. As Alzheimer’s stripped away names, history, and language, something unexpected emerged: joy, laughter, and a radiant emotional presence that transformed their relationship.

This episode explores:

Why correcting a loved one’s reality often creates unnecessary suffering
How grief can block — and reframing can unlock — unexpected connection
The difference between managing care and being in relationship
The surprising creative capacities that remain even in advanced dementia
Why connection matters more than recognition
This is not a Pollyanna conversation. Eliezer speaks candidly about violence, burnout, psychiatric hospitalization, medication decisions, and the logistical overwhelm of long-term caregiving. Yet through it all, he offers caregivers something rare: permission to let go of the story and meet the person who remains.
A powerful episode for family caregivers, adult children, professionals, and anyone quietly wondering what love looks like when memory is gone.

Guest Bio
Eliezer Sobel is the author of The Silver Lining of Alzheimer’s: One Son’s Journey into the Mystery, a memoir chronicling his family’s long and complex experience with Alzheimer’s disease. A former writer, editor, and teacher, Eliezer became a full-time caregiver and care manager for his parents, navigating everything from hands-on care to managing a home-based caregiving team. His work explores connection beyond memory, reframing grief, and the human capacities that remain even as cognition fades.

Key Themes
When caregiving becomes an identity — without warning
Alzheimer’s and the myth of “no quality of life”
Why never arguing with a loved one’s reality matters
Reframing grief: letting go of who they were to meet who they are
Humor, creativity, and joy inside dementia care
Care management vs. hands-on caregiving
Emotional repair late in life
Why connection matters more than memory

Social media links:
Links:
  / eliezersobel  
  / eliezersobel  
   • Finding Connection Amid Alzheimer's: Eliez...  
https://www.amazon.com/Clouds-Memory-...
https://www.amazon.com/Silver-Lining-...

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#AlzheimersCare
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#CaregivingPodcast
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#LoveBeyondMemory
#AgingWithCompassion
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