“When caring for a human life, you really need to make wise decisions and let the doctor in on all that’s going on with that person, because if the doctor doesn’t know, he or she won’t be able to help.”
– an excerpt from the book
ARPress is honored to publish “Love Kept Hope Alive” by Freda Harrison. This book is now available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and the ARPress website.
“Love Kept Hope Alive” by Freda Harrison is a deeply personal Christian memoir about a daughter who is also a nurse, fighting to protect her mother as Alzheimer’s slowly takes hold. This is not just a story about illness. It is about responsibility, family conflict, faith, and the emotional weight of watching someone you love slip away while you are trying to hold everything together.
What makes this book different from other Alzheimer’s memoirs is the dual perspective. Freda writes not only as a grieving daughter but as a trained nurse who understands what proper care should look like. That tension between professional knowledge and personal helplessness gives this story its emotional depth. You feel her frustration, her prayers, and her determination to do right by her mother no matter the resistance.
The book begins by sharing Freda’s childhood in Pine Hollow, Blue Ridge, including her father’s struggles after World War II and the deep faith that shaped her family. These early chapters are important because they show where her compassion was born. Her mother was a woman who worked hard, helped others, and carried strength through tragedy. That foundation makes what happens later even more heartbreaking.
As Alzheimer’s progresses, the story shifts into a painful reality. Freda notices changes in her mother’s grooming, anxiety, and medical condition. She tries to organize help among siblings, suggests practical caregiving solutions, and even seeks legal advice to protect her mother’s well-being. But instead of unity, she faces resistance. This part of the book is raw and honest. It highlights how caregiving can expose family fractures that were always there but never fully addressed.
Freda Harrison is not writing theory. She is writing a lived experience. The book clearly shows her background in nursing, especially her dedication to elderly care and Alzheimer’s patients. Her voice is direct, sometimes unpolished, but always sincere. You can tell she is not trying to impress anyone. She is trying to tell the truth.
Her writing carries strong Christian faith throughout. Scripture, prayer, and reliance on God are woven naturally into the narrative. In chapters like “A Nurse’s Prayer,” her heart for both her patients and her mother becomes unmistakable. She writes the way someone speaks when they have nothing left to prove, only something important to say.
Love Kept Hope Alive by Freda Harrison is for anyone who has ever loved a parent deeply and felt the fear of losing them piece by piece. It is honest, emotional, and grounded in faith. If you have walked the road of caregiving, or know someone who has, this book will feel personal. And if you have not yet faced it, this story might gently prepare your heart.
Hold on to faith. Hold on to love. Because sometimes, that is what keeps hope alive.
“Love Kept Hope Alive” by Freda Harrison is now available for purchase via ARPress Bookstore: