Look Under the Sheet

About the Book

The 1950s was a time of great prosperity for many Americans. Gerard and Christina van Amstel came to America with many dreams and hopes. They worked hard, educated themselves, assimilated into American culture and raised a family. Gerard and Christina always worked as a team, so they always shared the financial and domestic responsibilities of the family. It was this equal sharing and mutual respect that made them happy as a family and successful as a couple. Gerard and Christina bought several homes during their working life, raised three children, vacationed every summer and looked forward to a comfortable and much anticipated retirement.

Then life delivered a cruel blow: Christina developed Alzheimer’s disease. The disease progressed slowly at first with memory loss and confusion, symptoms most people could shrug off as stress related. When Christina lost the ability to complete simple tasks like following a recipe she had used for 20 years, refused to drive the family car because she feared she could not find her way home and began drifting often into the past with little recall of daily events, it was clear the disease had become debilitating.

This is not a story of shattered dreams. It is the story of one couple’s struggle with Alzheimer’s and a healthcare system that provides marginal care for the elderly and their afflictions. It is also an account of Gerard’s attempt to bring care and compassion to people affected by dementia and the millions of elderly trapped in the nursing home industry.

About the Author

Gerard van Amstel’s teen years were devastated by the German occupation of Holland during World War II. To avoid deportation to German work camps, Gerard went underground and joined the Resistance Movement. Gerard fought for his own freedom and also for the liberation of the persecuted. Following the war and five years of service in the Dutch army, he met Christina. Gerard and Christina were married in Amsterdam, had their first child and sailed for the United States. Gerard retired in 1988 to care for Christina.