Twelve Golden Gifts by Spiri Tsintziras

£16.99
Available
Product Ref. (e.g. ISBN, SKU)
9780733343742
Published:
25 Sep 2025
Format:
Paperback
Number of pages:
320 pages
Weight:
0.000kgs
How a mother's wisdom and grace helped one family come to terms with her dementia. Chrisoula had long been known for her rediness to fry up honeyed Greek donuts anytime a guest arrived on her doorstep, offer a listening ear and sage advice, and send her loved oneshome with a plate of the golden orbs. She had cheeky blue eyes, a ready laugh and a generous heart - all of which had helped her deal with the many adversities she faced in her life.When she was diagnosed with dementia, Chrisoula drew on her trademark humour and earthy wit to ask the only questions that mattered: What would be the best photo to have on her gravestone? Did the glittering gold dress she wanted to be buried in need to be ironed? And would it hurt to enter the wormhole of death?As Chrisoula's dementia progressed, her adult children, Spiri and Dennis, grappled with guilt, sadness and fatigue as they fumbled their way from one bewildering symptom and care system to t

How a mother's wisdom and grace helped one family come to terms with her dementia.


Chrisoula had long been known for frying up honeyed Greek donuts anytime a guest arrived on her doorstep, offering a listening ear and sage advice, and sending her loved ones home with a plate of the golden orbs. She had cheeky blue eyes, a ready laugh and a generous heart - all of which had helped her deal with the many adversities she faced in her life.

When she was diagnosed with dementia, Chrisoula drew on her trademark humour and earthy wit to ask the only questions that mattered: What would be the best photo to have on her gravestone? Did the glittering gold dress she wanted to be buried in need to be ironed? And would it hurt to enter the wormhole of death?

As Chrisoula's dementia progressed, her adult children, Spiri and Dennis, grappled with guilt, sadness and fatigue as they fumbled their way from one bewildering symptom and care system to the next. But their mother had given them some very special gifts draw on at this time and which they could use long after she was gone.

In this compelling tribute to her mother, Spiri shares these gifts, along with some practical no-nonsense 'golden nuggets' on dealing with the challenges of diagnosis, living with dementia and coping with grief. Twelve Golden Gifts is a must-read for those looking after a fading loved one and for anyone who is moved by a beautiful - and funny - love story.

About the Author: Spiri Tsintziras has been writing about food, family and connection for over 30 years. Her mother has inspired many stories-most recently on SBS online. Spiri is the author of the memoirs My Ikaria: How the People From a Small Mediterranean Island Inspired Me to Live a Happier, Healthier and Longer Life (Nero 2018) and Afternoons in Ithaka (ABC Books 2014). She co-authored, with Myfanwy Jones, the award-winning and internationally acclaimed Parlour Games for Modern Families (Scribe 2008). Her stories and articles have been published in anthologies, newspapers, and online. Spiri trained as a social worker and freelance journalist. She has worked in publications and communications roles in public health for over twenty years while running her own communications business. For nearly a decade, she has taught professional writing at Swinburne University. She lives with her family in Box Hill in Melbourne.

More Information
Number of pages 320

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