Caring For My Husband With Alzheimer's
Pam Benton
Pam Benton started noticing small changes in her pastor husband. Though Wilson had retired, he had agreed to serve as interim pastor in another church for eighteen months. Eighteen months turned into five years. Pam’s concerns grew when Wilson started using notes for his sermons. Since both of their mothers had Alzheimer’s, Pam and Wilson did not hesitate to get their doctor’s opinion, hoping for a simple answer, but knowing Alzheimer’s was not unlikely.
In this conversation with Sharon Betters, Pam describes how a diagnosis has changed the direction of their plans for retirement, how important it is to get an early diagnosis and the way the Lord has grown her faith. Pam’s children told her that in spite of a lifetime of ministry, this season of life is perhaps the most important as she models for them how to love their dad well in what many call the long goodbye.
In the book co-authored by Susan Hunt and Sharon Betters, Aging with Grace, Flourishing in an Anti-Aging Culture, each chapter ends with a story-teller who is at least seventy years old. Each woman gives the readers a glimpse into what aging with grace looks like for her. One of those storytellers is Pam Benton. In a five-minute video for the companion series Aging with Grace, Ask an Older Woman, Pam answered the question:
What two life disciplines prepare you for this season?
Biography of Pam Benton
Pam Benton is married to her beloved husband, Wilson and is mother to three children, grandmother to 10. Pam served alongside her pastor husband Wilson at Kirk of the Hills in St. Louis and Christ Presbyterian Church in Nashville. Pam has an MA from Covenant Theological Seminary in Theological Studies and has led hundreds of Bible studies and spoken at numerous retreats. After many years of ministry, Pam still loves being a pastor’s wife. Lunches with friends, shopping, fun times with grandkids and hanging out with her children are some of her favorite things.
Pam Benton – What two life disciplines helped prepare you for this season?
Go to agingwithgrace.online for more Ask an Older Woman videos and information about Aging with Grace - Flourishing in an Anti-Aging Culture.