Holding on to Pearl

Holding on to Pearl is a personal collection of essays about caring for a mother through nearly a decade of dementia.

Through the story of her mother, Pearl, Christiana explores what happens when the person who once cared for us gradually becomes the person who needs our care. The essays bring together caregiving, migration, memory, role reversal, grief, family, and the experience of letting go.

The book’s themes connect intimate family experience with wider questions about cultural expectations, transnational families, the responsibilities of care, and the changing relationship between parent and adult child.

Conversations the book opens

Care, memory, and the stories we carry.

• Caregiving and dementia. The shifting responsibilities and relationships of caring for a parent.
• Grief and letting go. Ambiguous loss, anticipatory grief, and forms of grief that can go unrecognized.
• Family and migration. Cultural expectations of care and the experiences of families connected across borders.
• Love and resilience. Memory, connection, and the changing relationship between a mother and daughter.

Author talks & shared reflection

Make space for a conversation.

Christiana welcomes invitations for author talks, readings, book clubs, caregiver conversations, academic discussions, and community programs centered on Holding on to Pearl.

Programs can explore the ethics of care, caregiver burden, memory, resilience, grief, and family. A book conversation can also be paired with a facilitated healing circle, giving participants space to reflect on and share their own experiences through listening and collective storytelling.

These gatherings can be developed for caregivers, families, social workers and other helping professionals, educators, students, community organizations, and faith communities.

Plan a book conversation

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