As a caregiver to someone with dementia…
I looked for patterns all the time in her dementia. I thought of them as guides to help me deal with the manifestations of the illness. I believed this strategy was the way to help both my mother and myself. Only when I reached out to others for support did I realize how isolating my strategy had become.
Dementia &
Alzheimers
Caregiving
Journey &
Transitions
Most recent blog posts
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This is us. Holiday traditions
Each holiday I reminisce about the holidays that came before. I don’t imagine I’m unusual in this way, I guess many people may do the same. It’s the patterns that are most interesting to me, the symmetry and asymmetry of our traditional family gathering. The good years, the transitions and the challenging years. This year […]
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“And while I’m still able,” Sandra Day O’Connor
Our heroes succumb. It is the circle of life, regrettably. I am a woman of middle age. I occupy that space at the tail end of the baby-boomer generation. My career was spent in high tech and I stood witness to the struggles women faced for recognition, acknowledgement, equal opportunity and equal pay for the […]
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At least I don’t have Alzheimer’s…
I may be living in the desert southwest now, but an unusually rainy October day transports me back to thoughts of caregiving in the northeast with my mom. Those cold autumn days when although the changing leaves were breathtaking and brilliant, the falling rain foretold of coming cold and a winter despair that seems to […]
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Life Lessons from Dementia Caregiving
Promises made. Promises broken. In 1965 I was 9 years old when my grandfather was moved to a nursing home. The massive wooden door of the old mansion-turned-institutional care facility always opened with a soiled sense of despair. While visiting her father over the years, my mother would softly sob: “Promise never to put me […]
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Post-Menopausal with a Family History of Dementia
Sorting through the new research Our recent news cycle has teemed with reports from the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference (AAIC18), an annual gathering of scientists and researchers from around the globe sharing their latest findings. I follow this news closely because of selfish worry I may develop dementia following the loss of both parents to […]
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Balancing Caregiving and Career
Studies, articles and blogs today give caregivers advice on balancing responsibility and managing stress. Whether you can hold a demanding job(s) or advance a career as a primary caregiver remains the dilemma. Nearly 44 million Americans (most working part or full time) provide regular, unpaid care for an older adult. And 10 million millennials (that’s […]
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Living With
I’m proud to know Mike & Cheryl Belleville. Their friendship touches me in a deep and meaningful way, the way we often don’t find on life’s journey. After seeing their new video this week I’m reminded of a blog I wrote two years ago when I first met Mike & Cheryl: I joined 1300 […]
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When Marriage and Caregiving Collide: Overcoming Loneliness in Crowded Spaces
You’ve been successful managing most aspects of your complicated life and are proud of the relationships you’ve nurtured and maintained through it all. Whether you’re a baby boomer, a millennial or somewhere in between, research tells us that your odds of becoming a caregiver to a loved one through illness or age are quite high. […]
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A Voice for dementia Caregivers: Healthy Senior Living Radio
A mission of in-house dental care committed to the use of innovative technology and supporting those who require care, where they need it. I joined the Smiles by Delivery Team in their regular radio cast to talk about the importance of oral care in mid to late stage dementia patients. Lisa B. […]
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Caregivers as Change Leaders: What’s Life (Podcast)
“Remembering you’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything just falls away in the face of death leaving only what’s truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way of avoiding the trap of thinking […]
