Apr 27 2024 53 mins
In this episode on the Living with Alzheimer's podcast, Christoph interviews Max Sherman, author of Releasing the Butterfly: A Love Affair in Four Acts.
The book shares many insights about caring for a spouse with Alzheimer’s while telling the story of Max and his wife Gene Alice (Genie) who met as teenagers in the 1950s while volunteering at a jail in the Texas Panhandle.
Max tells the story of how he and Genie created a partnership that enabled Max to become a lawyer, state senator and university president while Genie earned her doctorate to become a professor of music. The story continues as he tells how their shared love of literature, theater, film, and music became a critical connection after Genie was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.
In the episode, Max shares many of the insights he has gained as a caregiver, and thoughts on how to maintain connection even while grieving the losses of the fading abilities of a spouse living with Alzheimer’s.
Max wanted to be certain to share that, in honor of Genie, all proceeds from the book go to Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary's program in sacred music.