^^YOU Raise ME UP^^

In the words of Josh Groban
"You Raise Me Up"

When I am down and Oh my soul so weary, when troubles come and my heart burdened be,
then I am still... and wait here in silence
until you come and sit a while with me.
You raise me up~!

.......I am strong when I am on your shoulders,
You raise me up to more than I can be.

Alzheimer's patients are counting on US for just that.
Now trouble has come
Hearts feel burdened
They wait, often in silence, for us to come and sit a while
there by, is the raising up!


“Blessed be the Lord, which hath not left thee this day without kinsman … and a nourisher of thine old age.” (Ruth 4:14–15)

“It won’t be easy, but it will be one of the choicest experiences you will ever share as a family, and you will be pleasantly surprised at the blessings that will come.”
(Joy Saunders Lundberg)

Love

Kindness

Sharing

Engaging

Laughing

Assisting

Protecting

Redirecting

Empathizing

Confirming

Reassuring

all in a day and a life

knowing I will never be perfect at it.

Come what may and LOVE it

Joseph B. Worthlin

Comfort Care

Since we are souls with spirits and bodies, I imagine myself faced with Alzheimer's Disease and know in my soul that my spirit would long for home.... Eternal home.
My body would be no longer be important to house my spirit or carry my soul through experiences I won't understand or have the ability to care about.

"Observance means first of all listening and looking carefully at what is being revealed in the suffering. An intent to heal can get in the way of seeing."
Thomas Moore from the book "Care of The Soul"

There are many ways to interpret that comment.

I just pose two questions:

Is it moral, Is it right to provide Comfort Cares only for a person in moderate stage of Alzheimer's who prays continually and ask others to pray the same prayer...To Be set free. To leave her mortal body, joining her beloved mother and father. For her soul to have the peace it desires?

If there is a lesson for others to learn, can it not be one of a level of Charity and Compassion not yet realized?

The Point of The Mountain

The Point of the Mountain, as two neighboring counties call the curved freeway where the prison sits on one side and a gravel quarry on the other is somewhat of a landmark.
It is a Paragliding paradise, especially if one does not land on the wrong side of the point.

Recently as I was approaching the Point of the Mountain on I 215, the sky become darker, the wind picked up, then snow flurries appeared.
Not much more than to tell about getting around the point that day
...then there are other days and nights.

When snow falls and temperatures drop in the counties north and south of the point I plan on the point being treacherous. It is close to the point where I have prayed fast and furious for help to make it to the other side.
At times considered turning back if possible or pulling over and waiting it out for fear of a serious consequence.

I have traveled this path hundreds of times and so far made it safely through to the other side, always knowing there are
fellow travelers, incident management teams
as well as emergency responders who can rescue
long enough to
get me back on my path.

I am headed towards a different Point, with my mother
who has
Alzheimer's disease.
We share this journey, yet each headed for
very different outcomes.

Times are frightening and stressful, with no way to back out or turn around
The bleak moments are as though we are surrounded in a
white out, not able to see what lies ahead.
The truth is, neither of us wants to struggle through the maze of
insecurity and the feelings of being alone on the path around the point.

Having been on this "road" before, I see it has changed...the weather
is off and on, clear then foggy.
Yet my resolve has never been more intense. My understanding of what must be, has been written in my heart.

Those who travel with us will find God is leading the way.
We are not forging new territory really...
however foreign it may feel.
We do have tender mercies of the incident management and rescue teams,
as well as fellow travelers who will gently set us back
on the path to eternal rest.

Come along for the ride, if you would like.
I forsee a bright, clear, longed for view as
we get around the bend and past the pain.
I see many joys, laughs, and sincere hours of
abounding Love, melding our hearts together forever
erasing the sorrow we thought would break us apart.

There was an old woman who lived in a shoe>> >

There was an old woman who lived in a shoe,
She had so many children she didn't know what to do!
So she gave them some broth without any bread,
And she whipped them all soundly and sent them to bed!

There was an old woman who lived in a shoe.
She had plenty of children to tell her what to do!
They feed her, sit with her and give her meds,
And take her church & all around town,
then kiss her tenderly as they put her to bed!

There is no way to properly understand the trial
of
Alzheimer's Disease (The Brain Killer)
unless you are living it.

The horror of knowing there is NO cure and
treatment is nothing more than false hope unless
all of us prior to reaching 60 want to start taking
what is available.

This must be our trek, our pioneer journey that will not end until Mother has passed through the
veil.... once again to see her beloved Mother
lost to her in her childhood to the other
dreaded horror... cancer.
The blessing of it all is the compassion that rises
to the top.
The feelings of Charity race to our hearts and souls
to protect, guide and nurture
Our dear mom who lives in a shoe..........

Cause and Effect

A Mini Lesson by Diana Dell, Ed.S.

A cause is something that makes something else happen. Out of two events, it is the event that happens first. To determine the cause, ask the question "Why Did it Happen?"

An effect is what happens as a result of the cause. Of two related events, it’s the one that happens second or last. To determine the effect, ask the question "What Happened?"

I have watched 3 years of things happen that have not helped our country.

No lists, just tell me.... What happened?

Not 8 or ten or 20 years before..... just the last 3..........

Cause and Effect.............

Storing glue sticks

Is the storing of glue sticks a common practice in your home?

Perhaps you have come to discover what I have.... They are still there when you want to pull them out, they take up space ( small yes, but space anyway) and mostly are all dried up and useless. Hating to waste anything, even though I was not even a twinkle in anyone's eye during the great depression, I will toss a little nearly gone glue stick into a cupboard.

After this discovery of stored dried up glue sticks I have decided...
the storage of useful things will be on my list this year.

Such as food, water, fuel, first aid stuff, kindness, tolerance, and stuff like that.

You see, just like my dried up old glue sticks...

I have been known to hang on to and pull out old dried up hurts and resentments.
The useless hard feelings are just stuck away waiting till the right moment to be hurled to the forefront of my brain and heart.

Which is the exact place I want to be thinking "happy thoughts" as well as contemplating and planning some random act of kindness.
Filling the archives of my brain and heart with valuables such as tenderness, understanding, compassion, tolerance, and the under valued treasure of Charity is my desired goal.

From now on when I come upon a glue stick that still has value I put it to good use then toss it so it does not become something I don't want cluttering my cupboards.

From now on when I come upon a left over pain of the emotional kind, I will put energy into tossing it out and replacing it with tender reminders that we each have our own path here in mortality. At least I will try harder~!

I love the word Journey: "A set amount of travelling", and as I travel I learn.

I have a purpose as well as resources.

Putting to work the resources available to me for personal growth actually works to benefit everyone else.

Oh How I LOVE to clean out the closets and cupboards and get rid of the useless glue sticks.
It feels SO good !~!

Eyes in the back of my Heart

My eyes in the back of my heart take me back to Christmas.
The fleeting flash of a huge band of cousins standing at an aunts piano singing Christmas Carols seeps from my memory bank from time to time.
French Hot Chocolate and homemade cookies from Grandma's house open the flood gates of sincere joy and smells I still find lingering in the air especially at this time of year.
We cousins ran and ran through the tiny hall into the living room and through the hall again. Drinking from beautiful tea cups and saucers, just like all the grown ups,
Oh how we knew our Grandma loved us.
Her beautiful homemade cookies made weeks in advance were kept in ZCMI boxes
out in her cold back room.
Homemade crocheted hangers and dishtowels as well as slippers were the gifts Grandma intently worked on all year long so each person would have some treasure to unwrap and take home. Small golden books were given to the small kiddies.
I still see myself as a toddler sitting on her lap in her rocker as she read Humpty Dumpty Books to me. That rocker resides in my house, although my son thinks it is his:)
Ok, It is his~!

One very vivid Christmas memory for me was when I was about 11 years old.
I remember getting so many things I could not see my bed after I laid it all out. I also, distinctly recall the feeling of being so embarrassed over my collage of do-dads, trinkets and expensive clothes.
As we did in "those" days, my sister and I went from one friends house to another to check out the Santa trail. As we all wandered in and out of each others homes we two returned to ours knowing we had more than any humans fair share given to us for Christmas.
I came to understand my parents worked and shopped hard for months in advance to find
exactly the right item for each of their six children. Then Christmas morning they just watched with complete utter happiness as we took turns unveiling every treasure.


Now, as I near 60 years of age I am seeing more and more through the eyes in the back of my heart. These eyes now see what my heart always knew and recognized as love and devotion. Each package give, each treasure sought for in order to GIVE and make Memories was a success.
Those eyes in the back of my heart know how precious all gifts are no matter the price tag.