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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
Alzheimer and dementia caregivers experience firsthand the ravages of this disease. They stand witness to the decline of a loved one over the long arc of the illness. Subtle and not so subtle [...]
I know it’s the disease; it’s not my mother. The knowledge doesn’t make me feel better; instead it blurs the shades of green in her eyes between angry and rational moments. All are woven together [...]
Growing up Catholic we learned about death rituals as children. Growing up Irish-Italian-American we learned about the deep emotional experience of surviving the death of a loved one. [...]
Zyprexa fails my mother after months of experiencing “normal” on the antipsychotic. Prescribed for her dementia produced delusions and hallucinations she moved through a drug regimen recommended [...]
Everyone wants to understand the progression of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. Geriatric reception areas, Memory Center waiting rooms and social media message boards are full of questions [...]
Long ago I lost my religion… Evolving through 13 years of Catholic school, I attended mass regularly and married in St. Joseph’s Church. Yet, I was never comfortable believing in the [...]
