The Library

Monica Graham celebrates

a Senior Moment

A REVIEW BY SARAH BUTLAND

Monica Graham, a public face behind the local Read by the Sea Literary Festival has many more elements that she does not always like to talk about — she writes about them instead. A woman juggling many aspects of life, her newest adventure, as detailed in Senior Moment is one we can all relate to at some point in our lives. With an aging population, manoeuvring the desires of our eldest family members against what may actually be best for them, Graham did so a whole other province away and just before, some during, the worldwide pandemic we all have our struggles with. Graham made the trek to Newfoundland just a week before her mother’s 90th birthday to accompany her back to her party in Nova Scotia. This offered Graham a lot more than she bargained for, in the way of discovering just how much more help her mother would need in the near future. An amusing yet serious account of discovering her mother who looked after so many for decades was experiencing the tables being turned and she was now the one who needed more tending to than she would like. In her book, Graham documented the journey of this tender stage of life along with the practicality of many lists, resources available in the Atlantic region, and tips to help all of us navigate the experience when it is our turn. Graham lived it and wrote about it so that we could live through it a little bit easier. A helpful guide can be picked up through our local libraries. With tips on how to prepare well in advance and tricks on dealing with a loved one’s fading memory (it may not be just old age), this book tackles the woes of getting older in a way a lot of us can relate to and chuckle through. Might As Well Laugh, the title of chapter four gives the reader permission to laugh so they don’t hold onto the guilt of chuckling at the first three chapters. A perfectly edited book published by Nimbus, Senior Moment introduces us to the author’s family in a way that helps us get to know her, as well as our own families, even better. “Mom’s current situation — coating the chicken in dish detergent, hoarding plastic bags, and repairing furniture with Kleenex — had not yet reached the same level as her father’s. Or had it? It was still easy enough to laugh about it at this point, but when would the situation become a crisis demanding action?” Graham tells it like it is, and the way it is reminds me of Lesley Crewe’s antics from Cape Breton but more real, poignant, and in the end, helpful. Senior Moment is filled with so much humour that is totally relatable but with a lot of guidance and things to think about. A must-read for anyone who has an aging parent or wants to do a little planning for their own future.