Traveling Our Road

Written by Dylan Weiss
Illustrated by Abigail Walouke
Published 2021

Traveling Our Road is a story inspired by my husband’s fifteen-year journey with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease and our family’s experiences as caregivers.

Originally written to help children feel less afraid when visiting a loved one with dementia, it has also become a valuable conversation starter for adult caregivers and support groups.

While every group is different, the following examples illustrate how Traveling Our Road can be used to encourage conversation, reflection, and shared experiences during support group meetings.

Page 10

Navigating the Challenge

“Traveling Our Road” is a memoir utilizing metaphor to depict how Dave and I navigated the challenges of early-onset Alzheimer’s disease. Despite my background in Speech-Language Pathology and specialization in geriatrics, our journey was fraught with various challenges. Although “Traveling Our Road” tells my story, it also offers others an opportunity to share theirs. For instance, Page 9 illustrates how Dave and I met. This is a good starting point for support group participants to share personal stories.

Pages 16 & 17

Rough Road

Page 16 shows us embarking on a rugged climb, while Page 17 mentions the challenges of this rough road. Here, support group members can share their challenges, discussing what was particularly difficult and scary for them, or what unexpected twists of fate they may have encountered.