Best Intentions Can Create Poo
The Residence where Mom lives generously puts on special holiday dinners for the residents and their family members, i.e., Mother’s Day,...
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forgive & forget
Caregiving ~ Alzheimer's ~ Dementia ~ Life
Journal
BLOG topics are taken from my journal, and conclude with a lesson learned in "What Is True For Me."
I hope you find my experiences helpful.
Podcast
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- 3 min
Detached Caring, Part 2
Today’s offering is a continuation of excerpts from Susan McCurry’s book, When A Family Member Has Dementia. As I’ve mentioned, I would...
- 2 min
Detached Caring, Part 1
This is a continuation of an excerpt from Susan McCurry’s book, When A Family Member Has Dementia. As I mentioned, I would have benefited...
- 2 min
Grab a Tool Belt
This is an excerpt from one of my favorite go-to books by Susan McCurry. Had I had these suggestions when I first began caring for Mom,...
- 2 min
One Simple Practice
A friend shared a phrase with me once that has kept me from becoming overwhelmed. It is simply, “Just focus on one thing. One thing.” ...
- 4 min
Delegate and Educate
In reading past journals, I ran across a symptom of dementia that you may relate to. It also gave me insight into something I wish I had...
- 2 min
Getting To the Bottom of It, U T I's
Mom gets urinary tract infections (UTI) fairly often, and when she does, her entire personality changes. She becomes impatient,...
- 3 min
Two Days in the Life
I’ve been reading some of my journals/emails from 2010-2014, (the one’s I mentioned in prior blogs that I saved for “keeping strict...
- 4 min
Take It All In. Be Grateful. Nothing Lasts Forever.
Later this morning I am taking Mom up to the cabin. It is not easy for me to gear up for this. My stress level rises several days in...
- 4 min
Egads! What Kind of Behavior is That!
If I were to tell you I watched a woman with one maracas shaker moving from chair to chair, rolling it, touching and shaking her maracas...
- 3 min
Taking the Keys
There came a time when Mom’s memory loss and other cognitive impairments started to affect her driving. She began getting lost too many...
- 3 min
Silencing the Critical Voice
Being able to LIKE my mother was buried under many layers of criticism, confusion and resentment those first few years in caring for...
- 1 min
"50 Little White Lies"
If you have a hard time like I do with fibbing, or “Compassionate Misinformation,” here’s a great example I happened to run across the...
- 2 min
Blue Plate Special
When dementia became a daily reality, I did not understand that this disease doesn’t allow discernment of any kind in, or to, any...
- 2 min
Don't Bullshit a Bullshitter
No visits, no phone calls, no letters or cards for holidays, birthdays or special occasions from certain friends and family members who...
- 2 min
The Preservation of Dignity
Mom is no different than any other dementia patient desperately trying to hang on to her self-worth and relevance. It’s difficult and...
- 4 min
Begin the Beguine
Mom didn’t just show up at the doctor’s office one day and get a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s. It took years. Family and friends chalked it...
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