Gravel Road Ahead

Sue Fagalde Lick spent many years working as a journalist in California before moving to the Oregon coast. She earned her MFA in 2003 at Antioch University-Los Angeles and has published several books of prose, including Stories Grandma Never Told: Portuguese Women in California, The Iberian Americans, Freelancing for Newspapers, and Childless by Marriage. Her latest book is a novel titled Up Beaver Creek. She blogs at childlessbymarriage.com and unleashedinoregon.com.

Although the title, Gravel Road Ahead, hints at what's in store, readers may not be prepared for the heart-wrenching journey ahead. When poet Sue Fagalde Lick and her husband Fred left their careers in Silicon Valley for a new home on the Oregon Coast, they thought all their dreams were coming true. Then Fred, a former city administrator and part-time tax preparer, started forgetting things. In moving poems that range from darkly humorous to heart-breaking, Sue is unflinchingly honest in her chronicling of both the bitter and the sweet moments as she accompanies her husband of 25 years down the circuitous path of Alzheimer's disease. For those traveling this road with a loved one, Lick's a guide to be trusted, offering a lifeline of patience and forbearance gleaned from their journey. But there's plenty of insight here for any couple growing older together-and a reminder of just what we sign on for when we repeat "I do."