Today's New York Times has an article with an accompanying short video. It's about the author and film maker's mother, Pam White, and the man who married her, loves her, and is her principal care-giver through her journey with Alzheimer's disease.

My mother, Pam White, has had a full life. In her 67 years, she has raised three happy children, enjoyed a rewarding career as a social worker and been a devoted partner to my father, Ed. But, as she puts it, “There’s just one little glitch.” In 2009, at age 61, she was told she had early-onset Alzheimer’s disease.

After my mother’s diagnosis, I moved back into my parents’ house near Boston to help care for her. As my mother started to share her nascent experience with Alzheimer’s with me, I began filming our intimate conversations. For the next four years, we recorded both the big events and the small details of my family’s changing reality.

One of the most striking things that Alzheimer’s has revealed is the strength of my parents’ marriage, even as it alters their relationship forever. This process has been both painful and beautiful to watch. With this Op-Doc video, I wanted to share that complexity.

The video is both painful and beautiful to watch.

Robert P. Imbelli, a priest of the Archdiocese of New York, is a longtime Commonweal contributor.

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