Old family photos show chapters in Madje’s life. The highlighted photo at the center is Madje at 17 when she graduated from high school in Electra, Texas. 

Madje Steber smiles on the morning of her 86th birthday in her room at Midtown Manor in Hollywood, Fl, Aug. 16, 2006. Madje suffers from dementia and goes in and out of memory loss. She is the mother of photographer Maggie Steber.

Always an early riser,  Madje Steber was able to enjoy breakfast in bed each morning in her private room at the assisted living facility where she resided in Hollywood, FL. Suffering from dementia, Madje eventually became unable to feed herself, wash and dress herself, and finally walk. But she was happy and spoiled and loved by both her daughter—who visited regularly several times a week, sometimes spending the night—and by the generous and loving caregivers working at the facility.

Madje sits In the garden courtyard of her new home in 2007. After living in two assisted-living facilities in the Miami area, she finally found the right place at Midtown Manor in Hollywood, FL.  

Madje has a difficult day at Midtown Manor in Hollywood, FL., where she resides.

Madje goes out for a ride and encounters a large puddle after an afternoon rain in Hollywood, FL. Empty space in reflection reminds us of what might be missing in the brains of our loved ones with memory loss.

Madje lies on the couch after a nap in the early evening during a visit to her daughter's home in Miami.

Madje Steber has a bad day of agitation and despair due to her memory loss as she sits in the garden of Midtown Manor.

Strapped in for safety, Madje Steber looks terrified as she makes a trip to the doctor in a special van for wheelchair-bound patients in Hollywood, FL. in April 2007.  Madje had suffered her second broken hip and was going for x-rays to see how the hip and screws placed to re-bond her bones was healing. Her bout with dementa increases her paranoia to new situations and sometimes caused hallucinations and fear of being kidnapped.   

Madje poses for a portrait for her daughter at Bay Oaks Home in Miami. She resided there for one year before starting to wander, one of the most dangerous aspects of memory loss. 

Madje sleeps in her bed with her stuffed kitty at Midtown Manor, her home, in Hollywood, FL. in 2008. Dementia and the medications she takes to fight her memory loss causes Madje to sleep a large portion of the day and night. Her medications were constantly revised in order to serve her best, reducing some of the strongest medications when she was going through a peaceful spell. This is my favorite photograph of my mother in the whole project.