Welcome to the Soggy Sandwich:
My Journey Into Dementia Care…and Grief
Our family started our journey into dementia care for my mother in 2022. In late August 2025, just as I was ready to launch this site, my mother died suddenly and unexpectedly in her sleep. I will stay true to my original purpose: to uplift and inform families, especially those from racialized backgrounds, in their own management of a loved one’s battle with cognitive decline. Now, following the loss of my mother, I am adding a new dimension as I also look to support those experiencing grief arising from dementia-related loss.
Click the tiles below to read my latest blog entries! I publish new content each week on Thursday morning (MST).
Why I Created This Website
Hi – my name is Anoushka and you can learn more about me here. According to sociology, I am officially a member of “Generation X.” As I get older, however, I feel that the more appropriate label for my cohort is “Sandwich Generation.” Case in point: My husband and I are proud parents to boy-girl twins who are about to enter their teenaged years. We are also adult children who are trying to support our parents, whose care needs are evolving as they age.
As if navigating the balance between small children and normally-aging parents wasn’t hard enough, our family spent just over three years trying to manage life in the midst of the challenges that a dementia diagnosis presents. Specifically, the frustration that dementia impacts every patient so differently. This makes it nearly impossible for health care providers and family caregivers/care partners to predict how quickly and how severely symptoms may manifest or advance. Talk about a Soggy Sandwich!
I have always enjoyed writing and have long believed in the therapeutic powers of journalling. As our family moved through our battle with my mother’s cognitive decline, I became more aware of some of the harmful stereotypes and misconceptions that continue to persist about memory loss in the broader South Asian community and other racialized sub-groups. These falsehoods can prevent families from seeking formal diagnoses and – more tragically – can cut off patients from accessing the many resources that exist to support and enhance their quality of life. So, I decided to respond in a “two birds, one stone” manner, and here we are.
I am grateful for my father’s support of this website and for his permission for me to publicly share our family’s story and experiences. In doing so, I hope to motivate other families to: become more proactive in managing the warning signs of cognitive decline; to raise awareness of supportive resources for patients and caregivers/ care partners; and to encourage us all to increase our compassion and understanding for those suffering from dementia and those who care for them. In light of my own personal circumstances, I also wish to provide support to those who are grieving following a dementia-related loss.
To be clear – I am not a medical practitioner, nor do I have any formal training in any medical field. I provide stories of my personal experience and sources of past support to our family to raise awareness and to provide other dementia caregivers with information options only.
Thank you for visiting.