Coming to terms with the loss of a loved one is a major life challenge. In this moving book, the author, a longtime practitioner and teacher of Tibetan Buddhism, reveals how his grief over his mother's death, who had been an Alzheimer's patient for many years, deepened his ability to apply the Buddhist teachings in his own life. Using the traumatic experience of the family's ten-year battle with Alzheimer's disease as his anchor point, author Arnaud Maitland unfurls for the reader the intricacies of Tibetan Buddhism, so that the teachings assume an immediate practical relevance. The poignant account takes us through turbulent emotions, while grounding the narrative in a larger framework of Buddhist teachings on impermanence, suffering and the development of wisdom and compassion.