St. Albert Dinner Theatre director Lori Chenger is a born storyteller – first in theatre and now as a children’s book writer.
A longtime recreational director at several seniors centres and an instructor at Robertson College’s community support worker program, she is all too familiar with dementia and how it can leave every member of the family feeling devastated or in limbo.
Chenger has written and self-published D is for Dementia, a 14-page book that offers children a practical understanding of the changes in their grandparents' lives.
“It’s not lengthy, but it’s long enough to grasp the contents,” Chenger said.
After seeing first-hand the complications of dementia in her own family, she realized stress and anxiety within a family might be compounded for young children.
“Dad passed away from complications of dementia. When people experience loss, how do you tell a child? I felt it was important to have a dialogue with children. It’s easy to say, ‘Don’t worry. Go play.’ But children have questions that need to be answered.”
Prior to writing D is for Dementia, the local wordsmith browsed the internet checking out Alzheimer-dementia related children’s stories. She discovered cute, fictional stories such as Grandma and Me in addition to I Smile for Grandpa, a bear story about a youngster who discovers his grandfather is changing.
Chenger opted for a more educational approach and compares the waning brain signals to failing stoplights that send out mixed signals.
Writers develop a narrative in a myriad of ways. One night the compulsive diarist, unable to sleep, rose from bed and chronicled her thoughts in a daily journal.
“Within a half hour the story came out and I knew I needed to tell it.”
She approached Lorraine Shulba, a multi-award winning illustrator, to sketch the visuals.
“I gave her a photo of my daughter, Krista, and she developed her own caricatures of a little girl loosely based on her. She captured the images perfectly. It’s friendly. It’s fun and it looks like what a child would enjoy. There are qualities of innocence, light, fun and sensitivity.”
Chenger adds that while a family member's personality may be gradually disappearing, the love is still there.
D is for Dementia is available at Audrey’s Books, 10702 Jasper Ave., Edmonton.
