Missing You - Bernard J. MacDonald

What happens when the memories that define a life begin to disappear?

Dr. Michael Lamont has spent decades building a successful career as a respected cardiologist in Portland, Oregon. At sixty-five, he is accomplished, independent, devoted to his children and grandchildren, and still grieving the loss of Barb, the wife who shared more than thirty years of his life.

Then small things begin to change.

A forgotten dinner. A misplaced car. Familiar faces he can no longer recognize. Moments when Mike suddenly cannot remember where he is or why he is there.

When medical testing points toward Alzheimer’s disease, Mike is forced to confront a future he never imagined. His career, his independence, his relationship with his family, and even his memories of the people he loves may eventually be taken from him.

As he begins preparing for the difficult road ahead, Mike meets Allison Berk, an experienced counselor initially assigned to help him and his family understand what the diagnosis may mean. Their professional relationship soon develops into something neither expected: a tender later-in-life love that gives Mike another reason to embrace the time he still has.

But love cannot stop illness, and life brings challenges of its own for Allison. Together, they must confront fear, caregiving, loss, family, mortality, and the difficult question of what makes a life meaningful when memory itself can no longer be trusted.

Set against the mountains, rivers, forests, and coastline of the Pacific Northwest, Missing You is an emotional story about memory, aging, family, unexpected love, and the fragile moments that make a life worth remembering.