Awakenings in Real Life

My Dad's Awakening From Dementia Woke Me Up Too

By: Dan Cohen

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

"A poignant farewell from a son to his father."
KIRKUS REVIEWS

"Cohen’s journey embraces a heartfelt emotional experience that frames 'awakening' in a new manner. This will prove surprisingly uplifting and positive in a manner that adds extra dimensions of possibility and understanding to the dementia experience. Family stories, space for journal notes accompanied by the author’s gentle guidance for readers to fill in their own blanks based on these insights, and psychological and philosophical wisdom accompany the warm-hearted story of a father and son’s lifelong shared connections... readers seeking a powerful account of revised thinking, emotional intimacy, spiritual and psychological revelations, and detailed insights into just how “awakening” manifests, is interpreted, and leads to transformative thinking will relish how intimately and precisely Awakenings in Real Life reflects this journey."
MIDWEST BOOK REVIEW

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When, from deep in the grip of dementia, my dad suddenly “awakened” in the summer of 2015, he sent a simple but powerful message to his family: he wanted to live. That moment changed everything.

After our family's experience with my dad's awakening, I felt that I had to share this miraculous experience with the world. I quickly posted an article on the website Medium, and the article was read hundreds of thousands of times by families and caregivers searching for hope. My father passed away in 2016, but his awakening stayed with me, and it became the spark that ignited my own.

This book is about those awakenings: his, mine, and maybe even yours. Through personal stories, family memories, and lesson learned, I explore how moments of clarity, big or small, can open our eyes to meaning, love, and gratitude. What began as a story of one man’s miraculous return from the fog of dementia became my own journey of reflection and discovery, and it made me want to reach out to you, to remind us that life continues to offer gifts if we’re awake enough to see them.

Awakenings in Real Life is both a heartfelt memoir and an invitation: to notice your own awakenings, to share your stories, and to celebrate the transformations that bring purpose and hope into our lives.

Join me in this book, and on my podcast, as we uncover other people’s real stories of awakening, meaning, and the blessings that life brings when we finally open our eyes.

And please share your stories with me too. https://www.awakeningsinreallife.com

So many happy awesome memories… Thank you

This book was an unexpected opportunity for me to relive memories of my father, aunts and uncles that have passed. Dan Cohen not only shared some very intimate memories of his father and his father’s journey through dementia, he created the opening for me to feel the closeness I’ve missed from my past relatives! Thank you for this extraordinary gift.