The Story Behind Rosemary Rabbit
Rosemary Rabbit began not as a publishing idea, but as a lived experience.
For many years, I had the privilege of caring for individuals living with dementia. Over time, my own children began joining me. They visited, talked, colored, listened to stories, and sat beside people whose memories were changing but whose humanity was not.
What moved me most was not just the impact on the seniors; it was the impact on the children.
I watched fear dissolve into curiosity.
Confusion soften into compassion.
Distance turn into connection.
Their classmates began to join us for intergenerational activities. Together, children and seniors shared art, music, conversation, and simple moments of presence. The joy in those rooms was unmistakable. The stigma that so often surrounds dementia did not stand a chance against empathy and laughter.
Rosemary Rabbit was born from those moments.
It is a story shaped by what I witnessed: that children, when given the opportunity, respond to memory loss not with fear, but with kindness.
They do not see diagnosis first. They see people.
Our Mission
Rosemary Rabbit is more than a children's book. It is part of a larger movement to help children understand memory changes early, gently, honestly, and without stigma.
The Rosemary Rabbit Organization exists to:
- Introduce age-appropriate dementia awareness through storytelling
- Encourage meaningful intergenerational engagement between children and seniors
- Equip families and educators with tools for compassionate conversations
- Help build a generation that approaches memory loss with empathy instead of fear
- Create opportunities for children around the world to engage with individuals living with dementia and find ways to contribute within their own communities
Our Vision
We believe early understanding matters. When children grow up familiar with dementia in a thoughtful and supportive way, they develop not only compassion, but confidence. They begin to see that they are not powerless observers of aging. They can participate. They can serve. They can lead change in their own neighborhoods, schools, and families.
Our vision extends beyond awareness. We seek to inspire children globally to take small but meaningful steps visiting a memory care community, starting a school project, writing letters, organizing intergenerational activities, or simply learning how to show up with patience and kindness.
Looking Ahead
Who knows?
A child reading Rosemary Rabbit today may one day discover a breakthrough treatment. Or they may become the compassionate nurse, physician, scientist, advocate, or family member who walks beside someone living with memory loss.
Every act of understanding plants a seed. And when children are given the opportunity to engage, those seeds can grow into communities shaped by empathy, dignity, and hope.