carmen fernandez de cordoba

September is World Alzheimer’s Month, and at Zoe in Yourself we wanted to pay tribute to everyone affected by this disease, as well as to their families and caregivers. The title of this new series, “Even If They Forget, They Still Feel,” seeks to highlight the importance of the quality of the time we spend with people living with Alzheimer’s. Sometimes we become caught up in the countless practical details the disease entails—the necessary shopping, caregivers’ shifts and replacements,...

I try to find, in names such as Lucentum or Al-Laqant, some clue that might explain the contrast—or perhaps some trace linking names so closely associated with light to the slow erosion caused by an enduring sense of loss. It is difficult to reconcile this with such a white and luminous city, crowned by so perfect a castle upon so clear and open a hill. Is it a paradox? Perhaps. Or perhaps it is simply another expression of the duality that accompanies the human experience: the permanent...

I came burdened with vicissitudes, and my restless worries gnawed at you. You cried out for attention, but all you ever received was distraction and a measure of pity. You envied my friendships, and sorrow overwhelmed you. And you wept, with reason, round tears of heartbreak. You showed me devotion with so much love, but your manners undid you. And I needed neither pride nor rigid molds, but warmth, stability, and tenderness. And you gorged yourself on bitterness and madness, while I...