Even though this is supposed to be “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year”, when you are a caregiver for a loved one with dementia, celebrating Christmas can become challenging.
When my Mama, who had dementia for well over a decade was in the early stages of the disease, she was still aware of seasons and most holidays. As time went on, she became less so. Dementia stole her ability to look forward to Christmas, birthdays, or any other previously meaningful day or time of the year. The pages turned on the calendar, but her days remained the same.
Tag: joy
Singing is a lovely elixir for the soul
Back in 1952, Gene Kelly took the world by storm in the musical, “Singin’ in the Rain”. When Arthur Freed wrote the lyrics for that iconic song, I suspect that he must have spent some time in the Carolina’s where the rains are abundant in every season of the year – especially in the spring.
Navigating the journey called dementia (Part 2)
And…..we’re back. In Part One, our focus was on ‘Looking for Joy’ and ‘Celebrating victories’ – always remembering to smile big. In this next part, we will discuss a few strategies that can go with you further down the path and help in your quest to finish well.
Navigating the journey called dementia (Part 1)
In our family we had a saying, “We’re doing the best we can, and so is Mama.”. It was something we repeated frequently to each other throughout my Mama’s journey through dementia. Mama’s care was a family affair. It took my husband, my sister and I all working together in order to navigate the shoals of this difficult journey called dementia.
Quality of life for loved one benefits everyone
Quality of life rises to a higher priority as options become more and more limited. When we first realized that Mama was beginning to display signs of dementia, our family made the decision to try to fill her life with as much joy as possible. I say ‘unconscious decision’ because, at that point, we didn’t…