Terry Pratchett

So it's just been announced that the author Terry Pratchett has a rare form of early onset Alzheimer's. I first heard of this was here. I hate hearing news like this, not least because I know that behind the passing notice such things get in words by many, there are a few - Terry and his family - that will have to deal with this illness in all its troubling complexity for some time to come.

Now, I've never read Pratchett, but I almost feel like I have. He was a favorite of my Scottish brother in laws, and I recall browsing through overflowing boxes of Discworld novels on several occasions. I guess I also feel a connection at the moment because someone in my family also has a form of early onset Alzheimer's. Though at a distance most of the time, I have watched and listened as she's changed. It's no easy thing, hard to grasp, surprising and confounding at turns and terribly hard on the people close to the illness.

Terry is, of course, taking the news and presenting it to the world with humor and even "mild optimism". I'm glad for that, and I'll leave it there, wishing him the best and reminding myself to pick up a few of his novels soon. He's got quite a few for me to choose from, and he's sure to add a few more to the count as well.