Photo: Maureen McGovern | By Nancy Kruh, People | Celebrated singer Maureen McGovern has spread a message of hope amid darkness for almost 50 years with her signature song, “The Morning After.” But now the anthem also tells McGovern’s story — an expression of her own sense of hope as she learns to live with Alzheimer’s disease.
Though the progressive and incurable disease has begun to rob the 73-year-old artist of her everyday vocabulary, she still effortlessly recites the lyrics to the 1973 chart-topper: “It’s not too late, we should be giving / Only with love can we climb / It’s not too late, not while we’re living / Let’s put our hands out in time.” “It’s not too late,” McGovern tells PEOPLE, emphasizing the line. “There’s hope. Don’t give up. That’s my mantra. Don’t give up.”
McGovern shared her diagnosis and announced her retirement from the stage this past August with a poignant website post and Facebook video, admitting she at first “struggled with the inevitable shock with fear and, frankly, hopelessness.”
But today, she keeps those fears at bay with an active life and an intense sense of purpose. An Ohio native, she resides in a Columbus retirement community that offers her both independence and security, and she has surrounded herself with a tight-knit circle of family and devoted friends. “I truly, truly do believe I’ve been blessed with so many things,” she says.
Her younger sister, Patt Sweeney, lives nearby, making sure the details of her life are in order. And she’s relying on longtime associates, including arranger and accompanist Michael Shirtz, to lay the groundwork for a recording project of children’s songs, among her many musical passions. Sweeney and Shirtz both offer assurance that McGovern’s famously nicknamed “Stradivarius voice” remains clear and vibrant, and she keeps it that way with regular warmups in the shower.
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Read the original article on People:
https://people.com/health/maureen-mcgovern-living-with-alzheimers-disease/
https://www.msn.com/en-us/music/celebrity/maureen-mcgovern-on-living-with-alzheimers-disease-you-go-one-day-at-a-time/
For more on Maureen McGovern, pick up a copy of PEOPLE on newsstands Friday.
Maureen McGovern on Living with Alzheimer’s Disease: ‘You Go One Day at a Time’
