"Traveling Our Road" was originally written by Dylan Weiss (also known as Gail Neustadt) as a private hand-collated piece to explain to her grandchildren what was happening to their grandfather, Dylan's husband, Dave. At first it was the slightest of symptoms--a near-fall, stumbling over a name, a gift of wilted flowers. Then, as such things do, the symptoms became more worrisome. Dave forgot where he was going--or what he was doing. He got lost. He got scared. Dylan, being a therapist, recognized the symptoms and got him to the doctors. The diagnoses was what she feared -- Alzheimer's.
Dylan and Dave's road changed course immediately and dramatically. And throughout Dave's long decline, their grandchildren had to cope with what was happening. When Dave eventually died, Dylan focused on many things to both help her and her family through the transitions--but also to help others. The result is a series of young readers focusing on the environment. However, the little handmade book that she created for her young grandchildren when it was all happening called to her from its folder on her hard drive.
Finding the exact artist to turn "Traveling Our Road" into the beautiful book of Dylan's dreams took time. However, when she found young Ohio State Graduate, Abigail Walouke, Dylan knew immediately that this girl--at the beginning of her career as a professional artist was the one person she'd been looking for. Their collaboration resulted in this sensitive piece that acknowledges decline and loss but ends with a new beginning. The circle of life--and love.
Dylan, (aka Gail Neustadt) who earned advanced degrees in Speech-Language Pathology from CWRU and the University of Michigan, specialized in new service delivery systems for those with Alzheimer's disease and other cognitive disorders. She was a nationally recognized speaker and invited member of the HCFA (CMS) Multi-State Case-Mix and Quality Demonstration Project which established the prospective payment system for long-term care and quality of care indicators used by surveyors. For ten years prior to retirement, Dylan was CFO and owner of two companies, GNI, a contract therapy company providing Physical, Occupational and Speech-Language Therapy services in long-term care; and G-Networks providing education and training to rehabilitation professionals throughout the country.In 2001, six years before her husband's death, Dylan's article, "Side by Side: Traveling the Road and Sharing the Load of Alzheimer's Disease," was published in the ASHA Leader (American Speech Language Hearing Association). The article received a prestigious award from SNAP (Society for National Association Publications) and was followed six years later by a second article, "Still Traveling the Road." Dylan explains that it was the second article, along with a series of mystical experiences, that catapulted her onto a less traveled writing road. Noting parallels between mental degradation caused by her husband's illness and environmental degradation caused by corporate pollution, Dylan began writing "Skunk Tales Trilogy." All three books, "Norton's Tale," "Sebastian's Tale" and "Quinn's Quill" use animal characters to depict the increasing dangers of a new gold rush ... unconventional natural gas drilling. Both "Norton's Tale" and "Sebastian's Tale," published by Red Engine Press are award winners and "Quinn's Quill" is currently being completed.In addition to her writing, Dylan walks her talk by sitting on several community boards and giving testimony at DEP, EPA and local public hearings. She is a member and supporter of many environmental organizations and writer for a local magazine. Although her motivation for environmental activism originated with her husband's illness, it is now driven by the love she has for her grandchildren, Joey, Dylan, Samantha and Jordan; all of our grandchildren and generations to come!
Abigail Walouke is an illustrator and animator based in Columbus, Ohio. She holds a Bachelors in Fine Arts from The Ohio State University. Currently she works full time as an Animator for Outsider Video and Motion based in Columbus while doing freelance illustration for small publishers and other businesses.She is known for her love of painstaking research behind her illustration. Through fantasy and fiction she hopes to teach her viewers something, whether about Alzheimer's Disease as seen in Traveling Our Road, women empowerment, poverty, sports, or imagination.
