Gravel Road Ahead

Although the title, Gravel Road Ahead, hints at what's in store, readers may not be prepared for the heart-wrenching journey ahead. When poet Sue Fagalde Lick and her husband Fred left their careers in Silicon Valley for a new home on the Oregon Coast, they thought all their dreams were coming true. Then Fred, a former city administrator and part-time tax preparer, started forgetting things. In moving poems that range from darkly humorous to heart-breaking, Sue is unflinchingly honest in her chronicling of both the bitter and the sweet moments as she accompanies her husband of 25 years down the circuitous path of Alzheimer's disease. For those traveling this road with a loved one, Lick's a guide to be trusted, offering a lifeline of patience and forbearance gleaned from their journey. But there's plenty of insight here for any couple growing older together-and a reminder of just what we sign on for when we repeat "I do."