The 6-Word Memoirs Project

All Home Care Matters was honored to welcome back a dear friend of the show, Marianne Sciucco R.N.

Marianne is an author, board member of All Home Care Matters, and Co-Founder of AlzAuthors. She joined us to discuss and share about an exciting new project that she and the AlzAuthors team have launched, called 6-Word Memoirs.

“In six words, what’s one takeaway from my personal journey caring for a loved one with dementia?”

That’s the topic on AlzAuthors Six-Word Memoir Project. They’ve partnered with Larry Smith and Six-Word Memoirs to share caregiver stories and raise awareness of Alzheimer’s and dementia.

Here are some stories already submitted:

  • Unexpected blessing from mother’s dementia diagnoses.
  • Mom, Dad: dual diagnosis, simultaneous decline.
  • Diagnosis not unexpected, but still devastating.
  • Mom, do you know me today?
  • Becoming a mom while losing mine.
  • Other people’s stories guided my journey.
  • Friendships with other dementia daughters needed.

You can share your story here:

  1. Go to this link https://app.sixwordmemoirs.com/ where you’ll be prompted to login with a name/password/email.
  2. Then go to Join Topics and use this code: a8tt44di OR visit https://app.sixwordmemoirs.com/topic/…
  3. Share one or as many six-word stories as you like!

The Story of the Six-Word Memoir Project

Legend has it that Ernest Hemingway was once challenged to write a story in only six words. His response? “For sale: baby shoes, never worn.” In 2006, writer Larry Smith gave the six-word story a personal twist by asking people anywhere and everywhere to describe their life in exactly six words. He called it the Six-Word Memoir.

People of all ages and descriptions shared short life stories in droves, from the bittersweet (“Cursed with cancer, blessed with friends”) and poignant (“I still make coffee for two”) to the inspirational (“From migrant worker to NASA astronaut”) and hilarious (“Married by Elvis, divorced by Friday”).

Since then, the Six-Word Memoir project has become a global phenomenon and a bestselling series of 10 books, and has been featured in media outlets from the New York Times to NPR to The New Yorker. More than 1.5 million people have shared Six-Word Memoirs on SixWordMemoirs.com, as well as in classrooms, churches, and at live Six-Word “slams” across the world. Participatory, inspirational, and addictive, Six-Word Memoirs have become a powerful tool to inspire conversation and connection around a big idea, and a simple way for individuals to break the ice.