Calondra Stickley

Necessary Schizophrenia: a Caregiver's Memoir Calondra Stickley

"I am a necessary schizophrenic because on one hand I am here with her, helping her fight the hardest battle she?s ever fought. Encouraging her. Telling her that it?s going to be okay. And on the other hand, I am watching her die." Nine days after leaving Virginia to move to California, Calondra receives the phone call that changes her life. Her mother has cancer. As the only daughter, Calondra returns to Virginia, moves into her parent?s home, and becomes her mother?s primary caregiver. These are her fears. These are her struggles. This is her attempt to give words to the feelings that are grief.