NEW BOOK

Dancing on Memories

Written by Freda Lewkowicz, Illustrated by Sally Anne Garland

Apples & Honey Press, Publication: October 28, 2025   

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Dedicated to RN Lead Susan De Los Reyes, Pavilion Hope 4th floor, Jewish Eldercare Centre, Montreal, Quebec

Dancing on Memories is a picture book weaving memory, music and ballet together. It tells the story of  Sarah, a young girl who brings joy to her grandmother, a former ballerina now living with Alzheimer’s, by playing the music of Swan Lake.

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Once Nana pirouetted like moonlight shimmering on a lake.
But now the Memory Thief has come. Nana sits still like a whisper.

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Through music, love, and memory, the story gently explores family bonds,and the power of art to connect across generations. The inspiration came from a moving video of Marta Cinta Gonzalez, a ballerina with Azheimer’s who remembered her Swan Lake dance, as well as my own family’s journey with dementia -my mother, my father, and my mother-in-law.​​

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Watch the inspiration for Dancing on Memories here.

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RECENT ARTICLE 

The Shackles of Memory Loss Give Way to Magical Tales

By Freda Lewkowicz, Special to The Globe and Mail

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                                                          Image by Danielle Fishel, Globe and Mail

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“William,” my mother-in-law, Elizabeth, commanded, “please be a gentleman and open the door for Mrs. Higgins. Do you remember when she lived next door to us on 24th Avenue in Lachine?”

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With courteous smiles, my husband, Peter, and I both turned to greet Mrs. Higgins, but as we suspected, there was no one there. We were long accustomed to the imaginary meet-and-greet of phantom visitors that appeared at Elizabeth’s door and so with no hesitation or confusion we stood and replied in unison, “Hello, Mrs. Higgins.”

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ANTHOLOGY

School Selfies: Teachers,Parents,Students and Bandwagons

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Do You Recognize These Parents?

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Defense Lawyer Parents

Report Card Rage Parents

Wikipedia Parents                                                           

My Child Doesn't Lie Parents

Artificial Support Parents

 

Do You Know These Students?

 

Dishonesty Brokers

Stranger Danger Students

Blackboard Jungle Students

I Know My Right Students

I Gave It to Her, She Lost It Scapegoaters

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School Selfies: Teachers,Parents,Students and Bandwagons is the book that parents, teachers, students, administrators and the general public should read. It reveals what is really wrong with public education, and it's NOT incompetent teachers. School Selfies presents some inconvenient truths that some readers may find uncomfortable and harsh. But the truth sometimes hurts. Doesn't it?

 

I believe that it is important to paint a realistic picture of public education that is free of gobbledygook and verbiage. How else can we fix what’s broken if we cannot be frank about school problems? Enough of endless research studies by those who know little about real kids, classrooms, teachers or parents. I know that these theorists, who may not have stepped into a classroom in years, cannot accurately describe the blackboard/smartboard jungle and what occurs behind school doors. Ignorance is not bliss when it comes to fixing what’s broken.

 

Here is the truth about teaching that few others have had the courage or experience to reveal. I hope that I will unlock doors and reveal the good, the bad and the ugly not only to society, parents, students and teachers but also to the idealistic teachers of tomorrow and their professors at teachers’ colleges. It is important to extend a practical helping hand (emphasis on practical and real) to all, and this is my intention.

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