Great starts are easy, the goal is to finish well
“Two kinds of gratitude: The sudden kind we feel for what we take; the larger kind we feel for what we give.” Edwin Arlington Robinson Several years ago, I came across a book titled: “One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are” By Ann Voskamp. It is a compelling narrative that…
Not too long after we retired to North Carolina, my husband and I made a trip down to Florida to visit my father-in-law, Wayne Sr., as well as meet Sandy, his new lady-friend. We refer to him as ‘Pops’.
It was a lovely drive and we anticipated a nice, quiet weekend hanging out with the ‘old folks’. We were in for a surprise.
I always wanted to be a beekeeper. When my husband and I retired to North Carolina, we were finally able to pursue our dream. We began our quest rather naively.
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.
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.
Starting Friday, June 21st, the longest day of the year AND The Longest Day as celebrated in honor of those who have Alzheimer’s or other dementia or who have lost their lives to this always fatal disease, several AlzAuthors will be discounting their books so you will want to fill your shelves – virtual or otherwise – with several excellent sources of support.
One of my favorite childhood memories is of my Grandpa and I standing under his delightful Juneberry tree eating the delicious berries. I loved them. Juneberries look similar to a blueberry, only more burgundy than blue. They have a distinct taste – rather somewhere between the sweetness of a blueberry and the tartness of a raspberry.
Relationships with pets go far deeper than we understand – even if the pet doesn’t belong to the person.
Squirrels aren’t quite as ‘squirrelly’ as you might think. In fact, research conducted at the University of Exeter has shown that their memory for the locations of hidden nuts is excellent. My granddaughter agrees. She loves squirrels. We were watching a couple of them racing, chasing and hiding nuts in our backyard one day. I remarked that it must be hard for them to remember where all they hid them. She assured me that the little grey guys actually have very good memories. She is 11 now, but if she wishes to attend college in the UK, perhaps the University of Exeter would be a good choice.
Abilities changed over time as dementia robbed the bits and pieces of Mama’s brain. We had to be strategic, patient and choose our battles. If she didn’t feel like singing, that was okay, but wearing shoes was a requirement.