Being A Friend To Someone With Dementia
I read a post in one of the dementia caregivers groups I’m in that broke me wide open today. The person caring for their loved one did not want to live any longer because friends no longer seemed to care. I know I’ve reiterated before how hard it can be for friends and loved ones to be […]
Mary Daniel’s Honor
I had the honor this evening of sitting down with my camera and my new friends Mary and her husband Steve. Steve is 66 and is living with Early Onset Alzheimer’s Disease. Ironically, he is at the same memory care residence where I used to take Mitzi to volunteer up until the summer of 2018. […]
Link Our Hands Together
I have spent many hours in the months since September when Mitzi died talking with people who are walking through dementia and Alzheimer’s themselves or alongside a loved one who has been diagnosed. I’ve talked with them via the phone, email, and in person. Ask anyone who knows me and they will affirm I’m not […]
It’s All About Time
Someone in an online caregiver support group admitted that after years of taking care of their loved one who had Alzheimer’s, that they were starting to notice significant gaps in their own memory. And it scared them. I was with Mitzi on multiple occasions when women would come up to her and confess that they had […]
New Beginnings
This is one of those posts that is so exciting to get to write but also a little terrifying, so bear with me. Early last spring, when I knew Mitzi’s significant decline was not just a temporary setback, I started exploring how my experience with dementia caregiving, Mitzi’s journey, and my background in communications could all […]
feb 26
It’s always a little tough to know how to handle the delicate days after someone is gone. The birthdays. The milestones. The holidays. The significant event days. The anniversaries. And everyone is so different in how they want those delicate days handled. Some people don’t want to think about it because the reminder is painful. […]
feb 18
Driving home tonight, my youngest son spotted the Planters Peanutmobile in a parking lot. He was thrilled and it reminded us, of course, of the picture of Mitzi in front of the Oscar Mayer Weinermobile last year. That picture of her was the best text message I ever received from Gary…That day had been a […]
Through The Lens of Alzheimer’s
Recently, I left my regular sunglasses in my other purse and needed to use my spare pair. Which were Mitzi’s. As I sat there at the beach, wearing her sunglasses and looking at the world around me through the same lenses she looked through so often, I wondered what she really saw…and what Alzheimer’s let […]