Julianne Moore does an incredible job at playing the part of brilliant, 50-year-old college professor “Alice” who recognizes her own symptoms of a brain disorder – thinking, of course, that it must be a brain tumor. She was forgetting words and directions with more frequency; her normal thought process seemed just a little “out of sorts”.
She does all the early testing without saying anything to her family. Once this diagnosis hits her, it is shared and received with disbelief – not only because of her age, but also due to the reality of losing their mother/spouse in what we would call a dreadful journey of “loss of self”.
In the course of this movie, Alice is asked to speak to the Alzheimer’s Association about early onset Alzheimer’s and as she begins to prepare the talk (which takes her days to do in a very scientific manner), until one of her children urges her to re-do it and speak from the heart and her own experience.
Alice does this in the most amazing and touching scene I have ever seen on screen. There is one line, in particular, that brings tears to my eyes (not that I didn’t cry at other parts). During her speech for the Alzheimer’s Association, Alice says, “I am not suffering, I am struggling.”
For those of us who bring support to our family members or clients on this journey, we need to know it is a struggle to hold on to what is most precious for as long as conceivable and to give space to do as much as possible for themselves without risking safety.
Self-esteem needs protection – the ego is fragile. The “moment” becomes the most important element of that journey; no matter what journey you are struggling with, take advantage of the moment. This film reminds us to seize the day while enjoying love in all of its forms.