Category Archives: Uncategorized

We all know the commercial that ends with, “You’re in good hands with___.” I remember a time when I must have thought my name went in that blank. My mother had gone from eating everything on her plate to eventually barely eating or drinking anything at all. I had been trying everything I knew toContinue reading “Whose Hands?”

I recently read an article that encouraged people to focus on what they can do rather than give in to what they can’t do. That may sound reasonable, but the truth is, there are just some things we don’t even want to do. The first time I had to take care of my mother’s personalContinue reading “When You Don’t Have The Mind”

As a caregiver, I wasn’t aware of all the financial options I had as a taxpayer. This is information well worth knowing. When you have time, check out the article AARP publishes “Important IRS Tax Tips for Family Caregivers” at http://www.aarp.org/caregiving/financial-legal/info-2017/tax-tips-family-caregivers.html

One friend’s book about his faith struggle with a terminal illness and his initial refusal to seek medical care reminded me that not everyone needing a caregiver is a willing patient. Even those who seek medical treatment sometimes refuse to follow the medical directions given. Then there is the small cluster of Alzheimer’s patients whoContinue reading “Use Your Secret Weapon”

Illnesses, weddings, and funerals have a way of bringing out the craziness in people, wouldn’t you say? Yet some people are wise enough to use occasions such as these to bring hope and healing into families.    One son whose mother is in the final stages of cancer and now receives Hospice care recently said,Continue reading “Build a Bridge”

One credit card commercial challenges us to think about our finances and ends with the question, “What’s in your wallet?”  Similar to that, metacognition is simply thinking about your thinking; and life will teach you that what’s in your head has a way of determining how you feel and what you do.   When youContinue reading “What’s in Your Head?”

You never signed up for this, did you? The day may come when you feel stuck with all that being a caregiver requires of you. Surely you had other plans – like your own life, right?  But some things just seem to fall into our laps. We may even check the mirror periodically to seeContinue reading “Admit Your Anger”

During a brief period of lucidity in my mother’s journey through Alzheimer’s, she told my sister, “I think my brain is shrinking.” She had also once asked me if I could tell that her mind was going fast. Interestingly enough, our mother had battled depression and mood swings a great portion of her life, soContinue reading “Travel With Them”