For many, Sant Jordi is a special day on the calendar because of tradition; for me, it is also a reminder of a fundamental truth: reading is, above all, a conscious act of freedom in the service of self-care.
I have always believed that a book is a door. A door to other worlds, other lives, other ways of seeing things. A door that becomes what keeps us afloat in difficult times. A door that is sometimes an escape route and other times, our safe harbor.
When we live with Alzheimer’s or any other form of dementia, those doors sometimes seem to become heavy or hard to find. That is why today I want to talk to you about reading not just as a habit, but as that thread of Ariadne that allows us to enter and exit worlds when the words of our own become blurred.
Doors that open, memories that light up
I have often heard people ask Dr. Boada: “Does it make sense for my family member to keep reading if they forget the previous page?” Her answer is always a resounding yes.
Reading for people with cognitive decline isn’t necessarily about learning facts, but about evoking emotions. That spark of recognition when encountering an old word, the emotional connection to a poem we recited as children or to a hidden memory…
The simple yet immediate pleasure of turning the pages, absorbed in the present moment. That is precisely it. An open book is an invitation to stay in the present, to enjoy the “here and now” of a story, even if the plot fades away when you close the cover. Because that sense of well-being doesn’t fade so easily.
A refuge for caregivers
NI can’t talk about reading without thinking of you, the caregivers. I know your days have few breaks, but a book can be that ten-minute refuge before bed where you stop being “the caregiver of” and become explorers, detectives, or lovers in a distant fiction.
Allow yourselves that luxury. Reading is the best balm for a tired mind; it’s a form of self-care that requires no appointment or prescription, just a lit lamp and a willingness to let yourself be carried away. As the writer Virginia Woolf said: “Reading is the only refuge where we can find peace and freedom of thought.”
A shared commitment
At Ace Alzheimer Center Barcelona, we work every day to ensure that no door is ever completely closed. Our cognitive stimulation workshops, our shared reading sessions, and our commitment to research are, at their core, ways to keep writing each patient’s life story, making sure that every chapter counts.
This April 23, when you buy that rose or choose that book—whether it’s a dense essay or a light novel (the journey is what matters!)—think of reading as the thread Ariadne used to find her way out of the labyrinth in Greek mythology: a connection to shared self-care.
To our patients, their families, and the entire Ace team: I wish you a Sant Jordi filled with memorable chapters.
May doors continue to open. May lives continue to be read. 
Miren Jone Gurrutxaga, Chief Executive Officer at Ace Alzheimer Center
