About the Reviewer: Steve Krumlauf is a familiar voice in television and radio. He produces commercials, narrations, audio books, and voice tracks through his company, Voices Over Easy Media Services. He is also a frequent book reviewer via Amazon and Goodreads. Steve has served as a principal image voice for The Worship Channel (a 24-hour, Internet-only music and teaching programming service). He’s also a the voice track producer for Understanding the Times Radio, an hour-long interview program syndicated to over 800 radio stations nationally as well as globally on the Internet and Sirius XM satellite. Steve and his wife, Susan, have two grown daughters, one grand son, one grand dog, one grand cat and live in Minnesota.

In the classic Walt Disney cartoon, The Lion King, there’s an iconic tune that celebrates transitions from generation to generation.  The Circle of Life.  Doesn’t that same “circle” exist within a single life?  Think about it.  We all begin life as innocent newborn babies and transition through the various stages of life.  Most of us go from infant to toddler to pre-school to middle-school to high school to college to career to parent.  This is where the great circle of life begins.  As parents, we watch our children go through the same transitions.  But, at some point, a lot of us parents become innocent children again, totally dependent in some way or ways upon our children.  Ironic isn’t it?  As newborn infants and toddlers, we are totally dependent upon our parents.  Much later in life, as parents, we can become totally dependent upon our children.  The circle of life.

That’s where Cheryl Crofoot Knapp’s chronicle of her parents’ transition from independent adult to totally dependent adult begins.  As Knapp’s sub-title indicates, her intimate, bitter-sweet diary, Undefeated Innocence is the story of how God helped her and her parents navigate a journey through Alzheimer’s disease.  As the author notes in her preface, “Alzheimer’s attacks its innocent victims.  But it doesn’t defeat innocence.  Those who have it seemingly return to being a young child and regain simplicity.  Physical life ends like it began and returns to undefeated innocence.”  The circle of life.

Knapp tells us in the fourth chapter, “God called (her) to use (her) spiritual gifts (of) mercy, faith and prophecy . . . through writing, speaking and teaching.”  Two of those three gifts are clearly on display here.  Here Knapp outlines both an internal and external method she developed to diffuse her mother’s anxiety attacks.  Here we learn about the two categories “most people with Alzheimer’s fall into.”  Here Knapp teaches the emotions of exclusion someone with dementia can feel.  Here we learn about the stages of Alzheimer’s.

Within these 200-plus pages, Knapp shares the lessons she learned about overcoming the fear of caregiving.  “Being fearful is not a sign of weakness,” the author says, “It is merely the beginning of courage and bravery.”

On that positive note, Knapp reveals the secrets of “demonstrating authentic love and goodness” to her mother.  Want to know one of the golden rules of caregiving?  You’ll find it here.  Want to know the top ten signs of stress common to dementia caregivers?  You guessed it.  It’s here.  Want to know what fuels external persecution in caregiving?  Yup.  Right again.  It’s all here.

In short, Undefeated Innocence is a well-crafted, adult caregiver owner’s manual, well-lived by a gifted communicator.  Whether it’s dementia or some other life-altering challenge, this should be required reading for all adults who may some day find themselves in Cheryl Knapp’s shoes.