Treat

How do you treat yourself? As well as you do others? Treat yourself with kindness, respect and love. Treat yourself to: –Annual visits to your doctor and semi-annual ones to your dentist; –Quiet moments every day so you can hear who you are; –Terrific relationships that honor you; –Regular encouragement to keep moving forward; –Invigorating exercise that keeps you in tip-top...

This Is *My* Week

Happy Holidays to everybody, I hope everyone is perhaps having the gift of having a little time for themselves, amidst all the caregiving that we are being responsible for.  The community college at which I work is closed this week between the Christmas and New Year’s holidays.  And I am making it a “time-out” period for me.  Little self-indulgences, in between checking in on and doing for mom,...

A Contest: Out With Care Recipient, In With ???

Last week, I wrote about Donna Webb’s concern about the use of the term “care recipient.” So, we’ve decided to run a contest to create a new term for me to use. The winning term will become the term I’ll use in articles and on the talk show to refer to the person for whom you care. (Just a reminder: Our contest will replace my use of “care recipient” but does not affect in any way how you write and...

Get Rid on Good Riddance Day

Yesterday, Donna Ryan, one of our bloggers, told us how she packed pain from her past and didn’t look back. Interestingly enough, she shared her story the same day New Yorker’s gathered in Times Square for Good Riddance Day. Participants received markers and a white sheet of paper, answered the question “I want to say good riddance to” and then tossed their answer into a giant shredder. Into the...

As the Year Ends

This post was originally about something else. But it quickly morphed into several different topics; a stream of consciousness I guess. And I’m just going to go with it. Apparently, I have a lot on my mind… The end of this year has been very hard for me. I’m not sure exactly what it is. I felt it was just me, or just our family, that was having a hard time transitioning to the holidays. It...

Faith, My Rock

Hello everyone. I hope you have been able to enjoy your holiday season this year. I am convinced that all of these moments are precious. Mine has been challenging, to say the least, but I think the duration has been appropriate and memories have been made; something that has become very important to me. Now, between Mom’s hospitalizations, an incredibly intense work project in a new job, getting ready and...

When Starting Over Seems Like a Daily Duty, 10 Steps to a New Beginning

When you hit the pillow at 10 p.m. last night, you thought: I hope tomorrow will be better. But, tonight, at 12:30 a.m., you think: This starting over every day is just killing me. We often talk about the constant of caregiving—change. With change, comes its sister: Starting Over. Every day, you may feel like you’re starting over. You start over with different services as your care recipient’s...

A Perfect Christmas?

Our son, Brian, and his wife and 17-month little girl flew out from London on December 14. Although Brian has been home in between he has not been home for Christmas for about 7 years. That was and is a wonderful blessing. Our middle son, Troy, and his family live near by. We had hoped our oldest son, Derrick, and his family from Iowa could be here Christmas weekend but they could not come because of the heavy...

Rather Than the Term, “Care Recipient,” What Do You Prefer?

We had a quick chat on Table Talk today. I wanted to check in during our holiday season and offer resources for you during what can be a difficult time. You can listen to today’s show via the player at the end of this post. I also wanted to take the chance to address a concern raised by Donna Webb on her blog. Donna writes about her reaction to hearing the term “care recipient.” “We who are...

Merry

Image via Wikipedia During the holiday, we are told to Make Merry or Be Merry. We are wished a Merry Christmas. Can we really have Merry in our life? Yes. You actually already do. You have Merry when you hold your caree’s hand, when you share a smile with a loved one, when you let peace live in your heart. Merry is about transcending a caree’s disease process, honoring what you love, and staying...

Guide Helps Consumers Decide if Reverse Mortgage A Good Option

With increasing interest in reverse mortgages as a potential source for retirement income, the MetLife Mature Market Institute (MMI) has released a free guide, The Essentials: Reverse Mortgages, to help consumers make informed decisions regarding the use of home equity to help fund one’s retirement. The guide follows The MetLife Study on the Changing Role of Home Equity and Reverse Mortgages, which was...

Take Five: Forgiveness Tips

It’s becoming one of my favorite words: Forgiveness. On today’s Your Caregiving Journey, Dr. Elizabeth Lombardo, author of “A Happy You: Your Ultimate Prescription for Happiness,” shared the hows and whys of forgivness, all the time reinforcing the truth of forgiveness: It’s the best gift we give ourselves. (You can listen to our show via the player at the bottom of this post.) So, a few tips to help as...

Tell Us: What Change Stands Out This Holiday Season?

Change is the constant in caregiving. And, it’s not just changes from day to day; often, changes occur one minute to the next. When you’re close to these changes, you may adjust to them without much thought. Until a milestone, like the holiday season, happens. And, then you think: Wow! It’s all different now. So, tell us: What’s different for you (and your care recipient) this holiday...

Holiday Helps for Your Care Recipient with Dementia

Today, on Your Caregiving Journey, Crystal Roberts, national director of memory care, Emeritus Senior Living, shared tips to keep your care recipient involved in the holidays. She also shared ways to prepare your care recipient for holiday visitors–and well as how to set expectations for visiting family and friends. You can listen to the show via the player at the bottom of this post. Some tips to keep in...

Let It Snow…

Image by Oregon State University Archives via Flickr I think we’re in for it this weekend. When you’re not out shoveling, you find yourself inside staring at your four walls and your care recipient. Or, you may be staring at your phone, hoping your care recipient will be okay. We’ve got some articles to help you weather the storm: Getting Help to Your Care Recipient When Bad Weather Gets...

Moving from Venting to Feeling

Anna Stookey joined us yesterday for a discussion on Your Caregiving Journey about emotions and instinct and how they affects our decision-making process. You can listen to our show via the player at the end of the post. Often, a change occurs which leads us to make a decision. Particularly with caregiving, the change causes us to feel sad, lost, grief stricken. Anna encouraged us to really feel and name the...

The Money Beliefs

Yesterday, Ellen Rogin, our wealthness expert, joined us for a discussion on Your Caregiving Journey about our beliefs and how they can affect how we save and spend money. You can listen to our show via the player at the end of this post. Ellen referenced two books by Bruce Lipton (“Biology of Beliefs” and “Spiritual Evolution”) which have caused her to evaluate the impact of beliefs on...

Ask Denise: How Do I Keep Depression at Bay?

(Editor’s Note: We’ve been running past columns of Ask Denise. This column originally appeared on Caregiving.com in June 2004.) Dear Denise, I am a full-time registered nurse with a family of my own. We live in upstate New York. Out of sheer emergency we moved my 88-year-old grandmother into our home as she was deemed legally blind due to cataracts. After one month here awaiting surgery it is obvious...

Wonderful

Does “wonderful” describe your life? Yes, it does! It does because of you. You make it wonderful because you believe in yourself. Because you keep the faith in yourself, even on your rough days. Because your decisions reflect the respect you have for yourself, your family and your values. Because you know about the precious commodity called time–so you use your time wisely. Because you live fully...

Facts of Foreclosure

It’s a tough economy and sometimes its toughness settles right on your doorstep. Durward “Santa” Blanks, a real estate broker and caregiver to his 80-year-old mother, joined us on Your Caregiving Journey to tell us how to survive a foreclosure. You can listen to our show at the end of this post.  If you (or your care recipient) find yourself behind in payments, make phone calls now for help....

When You Feel Lost to the Process and to Your Role

Today on Table Talk, two blog party participants (Delores Moyer and Donna Webb) shared their stories. You can listen to our show via the player at the end of this post. Our discussion with Donna was particularly touching. She spoke about her mom, who’s late-stage dementia means an ending nears. She also opened up about how closed her life became because of caregiving. Her experiences are common during...

My Daddy

In 1997, when my husband and I separated, my boys and I moved in with my parents.  At this time my dad had been living with Parkinson’s for about 10 years.   My dad was almost completely blind, as he lost circulation in blood vessels behind his eyes.  My dad was still very active and dementia had not yet set in.  During the first year of living with my parents, I worked full time, and everything was...