AMY TURNER

Doug Anderson has always been known as the reliable one, the fixer in his circle of family and friends. But his latest release, “Until It Was Me,” reveals a deeply personal struggle that even he couldn’t fix – the painful journey of watching his mother battle Alzheimer’s disease.

The four-and-a-half-year fight against Alzheimer’s took more than just Anderson’s mother; it took a piece of him too. “To be honest, it shut me down,” Anderson reveals, opening up about the emotional toll of the experience. As someone who had always been the go-to person for solving problems, he found himself in unfamiliar territory, facing a challenge that was beyond his control.

“I’m a fixer. That’s just what I do,” Anderson explains. “If anything’s wrong with anybody in our family or friends or anything, they come to me and I’ll fix it. I’ll make sure it’s right and everybody’s taken care of.” But his mother’s illness proved to be different. “For the very first time in my life, I couldn’t fix it.”

The struggle affected him profoundly, though he tried to maintain his public persona. While friends and acquaintances would express concern, asking, “Doug, are you all right? Is everything okay, man?” he would respond with the practiced smile of an entertainer: “Yeah, I’m doing great. Everything’s perfect.” The reality, however, was far different. “Inside, I was dying,” he admits.

Through this valley of grief and loss, Anderson’s experience reflects a truth found in Psalm 34:18, which reminds us that “God is near to those who have a broken heart and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” His new song, “Until It Was Me,” emerged from this journey, serving as both a testament to his personal struggle and a reminder that even in our deepest moments of sorrow, we are not alone.

Anderson’s willingness to share his story offers comfort to others walking similar paths, showing that it’s okay to not be okay, and that even the strongest among us sometimes need to acknowledge our pain and seek healing.