Sisters Diana and Sandra Gonzalez-Morett shared how their family’s experience with FTD inspired the creation of the short film Pedacito de Carne in an August 31 article published on NJ.com.

Diana and Sandra’s mother, Diana Morett, first began showing FTD symptoms in 2015. The sisters describe their mother as a generous, charming, and mischievous woman who could light up a room with her smile and whose legendary hugs were the talk of their friends. But as her undiagnosed FTD progressed, it began to chip away at Morett’s gregarious personality.

“Mom was staying in bed for longer periods of time; she just wasn’t as enthusiastic,” Sandra told NJ.com reporter Spencer Kent. “Her doctor was just like: ‘You need to just accept the fact that your mom has given up on life.’”

There were times when Morett was able to overcome FTD to care for and support her family, such as in 2015 when she came to the aid of her husband, Hector Gonzalez, who had just suffered a heart attack.

“She turned back on; she became supermom,” Sandra said.

Over time, though, Morett’s behavior continued to change. Her hygiene had begun to slip, she was uncharacteristically cold and distant, and she started having hallucinations: snakes inside the house, deer trying to leap through the windows. During a doctor’s visit, Diana recalls how her mother seemed detached from what was happening around her – she roamed the building, visiting different rooms and occasionally stealing snacks. Diana was once again told that her mother was merely depressed.

In 2017, as the family was beginning to become overwhelmed by Morett’s progressing symptoms, things took a drastic turn.

Sandra was set to meet her mother for dinner to celebrate International Women’s Day, but she never showed up. Three stressful hours later, Sandra’s father called and said that her mother had arrived home.

“Instead of meeting me at 5:30 p.m. for dinner, it seems she hung up the phone and went straight to the restaurant, had the soup by herself, and then got lost for hours until 8:30,” Sandra added.

The incident catalyzed another trip to the doctor, which would finally bring the Gonzalez-Morett family the answers they sought for two years: Morett was diagnosed with FTD.

In 2019, Diana put aside her burgeoning acting career to return home and become a care partner for her mother.

“It was heartbreaking, and it was hard to accept that it was happening,” Diana said.

Yet, even through the grief and exhaustion of the FTD journey, Diana still found herself carrying a creative spark. Diana was a storyteller, and the FTD journey was a story that had yet to be told. In 2021, with a script in hand, Diana consulted with director Akilah Walker, a close friend with whom she had co-founded Good Mother Films, to begin planning how they would share the FTD journey through film.

Diana, Sandra, and Walker would later produce Pedacito de Carne, bringing the FTD journey to the silver screen. The film was selected to be one of several made through a Netflix-sponsored program that supports women filmmakers of color. Pedacito de Carne premiered at the Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival and had a special screening at AFTD’s 2023 Education Conference in St. Louis.

AFTD interviewed Diana Gonzalez-Morett in a previous issue of our Help & Hope newsletter to discuss Pedacito de Carne and how the film not only helped her process her own emotions but let her highlight changes that need to be made to support others on the FTD journey.

Sandra Gonzalez-Morett serves New Jersey as an AFTD Ambassador, spreading awareness and educating local communities about FTD in both English and Spanish. Meet Sandra and her colleagues and learn more about their work on the AFTD Ambassadors page of our website.