The Day We Met by Rowan Coleman

This is a love story in the midst of moments of tragedy and comedy, and a damn fine read.  Not many books make me cry, but there was more than one moment that I had tears in my eyes.

The Day We Met centers around Claire, who has been diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's while in her early 40's, although the story is told from several perspectives.  There is also Greg, her current husband of only a couple years; her oldest daughter, Caitlin, who is twenty; and her mother, Ruth, who has moved in with them to care for Claire and Claire's youngest daughter, Esther.  The story marches backwards and forwards in time, revealing snippets of the past that are slowly fading from Claire's memory as the Alzheimer's grows more pronounced.

In addition to the problem of Claire's disease, the main characters also face personal crises of their own.  Caitlin has secrets she is hiding from her family, Ruth lost Claire's father the same way she is losing Claire and seems unable to let go of her anger at the situation, and Claire herself meets a strange man who seems to understand her in a way that Greg is increasingly unable to.  As she and her family struggle to come to grips with the disease that is defining her days, Claire tries to find out who she is in the midst of losing what she thought has always defined her life.

This is a beautiful and touching story, and I would definitely recommend it.  As soon as I am done writing this post, I am off to pick up more books by Ms. Coleman!