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How to Manage Without Meltdown

Brenda worked full time, cared for her family and spent most weekends with her mom, who lived in a local care home. She would bring her to her home, where she could play with her three-year-old great-granddaughter and visit with Brenda. Sometimes they would do a few errands, Brenda would do mom’s laundry and make […]

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Frustrated, Anxious, Angry–Care Partner Stress is Real

A conversation over coffee “I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I used to fall asleep easily. I’d hit the pillow and be gone. Each day is crazy busy and I can barely drag myself up the stairs. That hasn’t changed, but now I get into bed, and it’s like a switch goes off. I

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Surprising, Little Known Ways To Find Your Tribe

I tucked the carefully crafted letter in backpacks and diaper bags. When I met the parents at the door to pick up their children from my daycare, I didn’t say a word. In a few hours, the phone started to ring as my monumental decision reached its tentacles into the lives it would affect. I

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Feel Empowered With An Epic Medical Team

We sometimes play a game with a parachute. Everyone in a circle holds a loop attached to the colourful fabric and pulls to keep it tight. A ball in the centre rolls from side to side, sometimes bouncing if someone gets enthusiastic and suddenly pulls tight. If a player slacks off, the ball falls to

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Seize the Opportunity to Build Your Team

“It takes a village to raise a child is an African proverb which means that an entire community of people must interact with children for those children to experience and grow in a safe and healthy environment. The villagers look out for the children.”1 The concept of the community participating in the raising of children is

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Anxious To Powerful With Assistive Devices

Do you remember the bundle buggy? A cart sitting on four wheels with a handle at the top. Used for shopping trips, usually pulled by an older person. The bundle buggy received a facelift several years ago. It’s now called a “trolley dolly” or a foldable shopping cart, or perhaps a “rolling bag cart.” No

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Empower Your Later Years with Awesome Decisions Now

Margaret liked her stuff. She wasn’t the least bit materialistic, but her sentimentality made it impossible to part with anything which had the slightest story attached to it. In her house, whole rooms were devoted to boxes of old pictures, which she planned to sort through someday, her mother’s teacups, her deceased sister’s treasures and

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The Good, The Bad and the Ugly of Independence

Independence. Toddlers throw tantrums for it, teenagers get drunk asserting it, we all crave it. We want to do what we want to do when we want to do it. We’ll stay within the law (mostly) and societal boundaries (for the most part) but we crave the ability to make our own choices and decisions.

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Do your Doctor’s Manners Make You Angry?

Melanie shifted in the uncomfortable, straight-backed chair and glanced at her watch. It hadn’t moved since the last time she looked, and compulsively staring at it wasn’t doing a thing. Mom had mercifully fallen asleep in the chair beside her after almost an hour of meaningless chatter, pacing and protests loud enough that everyone in

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After A Frightening Diagnosis Ask These 5 Powerful Questions

Bill and I and the doctor were crowded into a tiny examination room, peering at the computer screen. A week ago he’d had a serious event which brought him to the emergency room. His cardiologist was there that evening, and did multiple tests. We stared at the screen where the results were displayed. “Idiopathic Cardiac

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