Author Talk: Dementia Journey: A Carer’s Guide to Dementia
Date & Time
Dementia Journey: A Carer’s Guide to Dementia, is an unvarnished view, on the challenging Dementia Journey of two untrained carers and how they faced and managed the disease, as the illness evolved through each of the different stages! Blanche and Jennifer draw on their own personal experiences and intent to help readers and carers understand the Dementia Journey, and to lessen the stress and emotional toll, by their lived experiences!
Some of the points that Blanche and Jennifer will discuss :
- How it all began
- Early diagnosis
- Caring
- Nursing home choice
About Blanche Antonisen
Blanche Antonisen was born in Goa, a Portuguese colony until 1968, situated on the southwestern coast of India. She moved from Goa to start her school as a boarder in Karachi, Pakistan. Blanche was a boarder from age 5 to 18 at a Catholic school run by the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary until she finished school. In 1971 when the India/Pakistan war started, she had to leave Pakistan. With a Portuguese passport and unable to stay in Pakistan, a nun who had taught her now lived in Australia and recognised her refugee status and stepped in.
Blanche became an Australian citizen in 1973. She married Jack Antonisen, a Dutchman she met whilst travelling. They have two daughters and four grandchildren. Blanche completed her tertiary education as an adult in Australia, gaining her Bachelor of Arts in Communication from the University of Western Sydney. A proud stay-at-home mother for 20 years, when her children were at senior school, Blanche gained employment in public relations, technical writing, and administration. She has been an active member of the community, volunteering at schools and helping people in her local community and neighbourhood. After 46 years together, with his Dementia diagnosis, Jack changed and became a stranger and Blanche took on the role of a carer 24/7. After Jack died, Blanche spent 18 months overseas, learning creative writing in New York, and renting an apartment in London to get to know her English grandkids and travel around Europe.
Blanche enjoys reading, belongs to a book club, appreciates the arts, takes nature and healthy cooking seriously, and her regular travels have enhanced her cultural sensitivity, to adopt and adapt to globalisation and its benefits.
About Jennifer Muir
Jennifer Muir OAM was born in Melbourne and attended school and university in Sydney. Jennifer travelled widely and lived in England and America where she met and later married her husband Fulton. On returning to Australia in 1981, she became a library teacher in Canberra for 15 years. She has always been committed to community service. After retiring she spent ten years as the President of a volunteer program working with primary school children, as well as balancing her commitments for a time as the National President of the Australian Women of the Year Association. When she returned to live in Canberra she and her family lived on a farm. She thoroughly enjoyed the rural life but left to move into the leafy Canberra suburbs to be closer to her family and doctors when Fulton was diagnosed with Dementia. For two years, Jennifer cared for him in their family home prior to him moving into a nursing home, where he died a few months later.
She was married to Fulton for 40 years before he passed away from Dementia in 2013. She has four children and three stepchildren. Jennifer enjoys being a proud grandmother of five. Her main interests at present include studying Latin, reading, movies and music. Jennifer has a keen sense of humour which helped her through the Dementia journey.
Free event with registration. A maximum of one (1) ticket per customer applies. If you would like to bring a friend, please ask them to register through Eventbrite.