Gifts for a shrinking world
It’s sad when celebrations and special days lose their meaning. Ed’s birthday is on November 29—my family and I always combined our Thanksgiving dinner with a birthday celebration for Ed. It was part of our ritual and we always looked forward to our own tradition of carrot cake and candles at the end of our Thanksgiving dinner. When our…
Read MoreTalking with Friends
Earlier this week, friends of ours from Virginia stayed with me for several days. It was wonderful spending time with them—lovely, easy and stimulating. We talked about everything, as friends do, including Ed. We reminisced about the time Ed made his fourth hole-in-one and how I held a surprise party for him and gave everyone a baseball cap with FOA…
Read MoreMemories and Truth
I’ve always been interested in memory and there was a time in my life when I wanted to do research on the subject. That was until I realized that statistics was a necessary part of the program. So, I altered my career goals—but my interest in memory continued. How ironic that, many decades later, I would be married to a…
Read MoreTalking about Alzheimer’s
While I was signing copies of “I Still Do” at my New York book launch, I was deeply touched by several people who tried to tell me their story but were so new at it, so raw, that they couldn’t complete their first sentence without crying. There were hugs, and Kleenex tissues passed, and then—slowly—the stories came. In two situations,…
Read MoreMissing the Conversation
Life has a way of interfering with blogging; at least my life has. Since I last blogged, I’ve had to move my husband to a facility near our home; my book “I Still Do: Loving and Living with Alzheimer’s” has been released; I just completed a three week east coast book tour; my new photography projects have expanded and I…
Read MoreConversation for Alzheimer’s Caregivers
We are lonesome animals. We spend all our life trying to be less lonesome. One of our ancient methods is to tell a story begging the listener to say — and to feel — ”Yes, that’s the way it is, or at least that’s the way I feel it. You’re not as alone as you thought.” —John Steinbeck. My husband…
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