Cathie Borrie was born in Vancouver, B.C. She has completed her first manuscript. This lyrical memoir, short listed (excerpts) in both the 2006 and 2007 Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s National Literary Competition, chronicles and cherishes the relationship between a mother and daughter over a seven-year period during which the mother’s health declines as her dementia increases.

Following her mother’s eccentric lead, the daughter explores her own rich history - its journeys, demons and portends. Throughout heartbreaking times in the caregiving experience - memory, fantasy and dance provide the daughter with consolation and respite. By bearing witness to the mother’s experience, the daughter eventually finds, unexpectedly, independence and freedom.

Very much a narrative-driven work, it is a frank yet often humorous story with surprising passages of eloquence taken from recorded conversations during the last years of the mother’s life, distinguishing it from other work in the field. The mother’s voice weaves throughout the manuscript with insight, humor, and astonishing poetic sensibility, challenging limiting, negative and pervasive stereotypes regarding aging and illness.

With the exponential rise in the aging population, dementia, and the number of baby boomers caring for elderly parents, this work is a timely addition to a field that traditionally focuses on both despair and on the “long goodbye,” and which is often found to be dry, depressing, and lacking in literary merit.This work illustrates that those suffering with dementia and those caring for them might, in part, find ways to experience the elevating, hopeful and honorable “long hello.”