“Sometimes you have to leave the safety of the shore to find your strength.” This is a design that I created for my art business but that is inspired by the dementia and Alzheimer’s journey. Strength and inner peace seem to ebb and flow. There are...
In a recent video conversation with my sister, Christine, we talked about the challenges of living close or far from a loved one with dementia or Alzheimer’s. I live 4 miles from my parents and she lives 2,891 miles away – so we have the “close” and “far”...
The “H” word… HOSPICE. It seems like everyone has a different idea of what “hospice” is – some ideas are accurate and some are misconceptions. Maybe it’s because hospice options can vary by disease, by age and by cultural...
Having a loved one with dementia or Alzheimer’s is hard. Many call it “the long goodbye” because you are watching them, often slowly, change and recede from the person you have always known to a shell of who they were. There may be days when you...
So I got a text one day from my mom at about 7:15 am, “are you up? Is Craig there?” Immediately I knew something was wrong… My stomach fell and I called her immediately – “yes and yes. What’s happening?” “Well I woke up...
There are days and times when you simply don’t know what to do… you don’t know how to support someone who is upset. You don’t know what to say when someone asks if there is anything they can do to help you. If you have a loved one with dementia...
I have been trying lots of different things for stress relief and fitness – from meditation to journaling to yoga – all good! Recently I decided to try Tai Chi and I’m hooked! It feels a bit like yoga without laying down or being on all fours…...
It certainly isn’t something you hear about every day but that can be said for many of the things my parents have done in their nearly 53 years of marriage. The decision to put someone in a Care Home or to care for them in your home as things progress with...
…things aren’t always easy and some periods of life are more challenging than others. There are times that test our ability to find the humor or highlight in a situation – it feels like it would be better to stay in bed and hide under the covers. If...
When a loved one has dementia or Alzheimer’s, there will be tears. You will grieve as you watch them slip away before your eyes. You will be sad for the future you thought you would have that will never be. You will at times feel helpless, hopeless, angry,...
Many of the “unusual behaviors” that leave people scratching their head are related to the changes going on in the brain of someone with dementia. There are 7 main abilities that are affected: Language – this is often the first thing family and...
Dementia is not a natural part of ageing and with research, we could, one day, defeat it. I love this video from Alzheimer’s Research UK and award-winning actor, Christopher Eccleston whose father Ronnie died with vascular dementia. The goal is to raise awareness that...
