Alzheimer's

This is a progressive disease that causes a myriad of memory, cognitive, and motor problems. When Alice is diagnosed, she realizes that she will eventually lose her communications skills. Communication has been the basis for her entire life's work and this devastates her.

Harvard Square

This is a place near Alice's home and her work, and it's where she becomes lost for the first time. She knows where she is but can't remember how to get home. This disorientation makes her realize that something is seriously wrong. In some ways, Harvard Square becomes a symbol for what her life is going to become and Alice refers to it later as proof in her mind that the Alzheimer's diagnosis is correct.

The Butterfly Test

This is a series of five questions Alice prompts herself to answer every day with instructions to go to the file titled “butterfly...