TeamAlzheimers.org - Emphasis On The Past

Book About Clothing Connects Family
Reported by Jennifer Von Reuter

Communicating with a loved one with Alzheimer's disease can be difficult for family members, but one daughter used fashion as a way to talk to her mother who lost her memory. Now her experience is chronicled in a new book called "My Mother's Clothes." It's a story about a woman's love for fashion and her memory…

Jeanette Montgomery Barron is a photographer and used her skill to create the book about her mother and the clothes she loved to wear. Each piece of clothing has a memory tied to it and it's those memories, Eleanor Morgan Montgomery Atuk would remember and discuss with her daughter when the events of present day were puzzling.

"And once I brought these photographs back to her, she started talking about her life and her memories of each piece of clothing. I went dancing in this. I went to this meeting in that one," said Barron. Barron took pictures of her mother's designer dresses and stylish shoes. There's even a photo of a red bathing suit her mom wore when she was 84. Barron's favorite is of photograph of a Norell perfume bottle.

"I remember my mother wearing that perfume and lot of people remember their mother wearing that perfume," said Barron.

Sue Friedman is President and CEO of the Alzheimer's Association of Central and Western Virginia. She said Barron's book is a great example of how families can communicate with their loved one whose memory is slipping away. Since short term memory fades first, it's important to bring up the past.

"Find what the passion was and use that as your leverage point to continue drawing out those memories and making those connections," said Friedman.

Barron said the book is also a way to memorialize her mother and to help other families find comfort.

"Even if you think there's no hope of communicating with someone whether they have Alzheimer's or whether they have another illness you have to keep trying," said Barron.

Eleanor Morgan Montgomery Atuk lived in Charlottesville for 25 years. She died in 2007. She was 84 years old. "My Mother's Clothes" is available at Barnes and Noble.