peachmanstewart

You’re sitting in the doctor’s office beside your mother. Your heart is pounding. There were months of suspicions and worry, weeks of tests, days of reassuring yourself and having conversations in your mind. Finally, it comes to this.The doctor turns to your mother and says, “You have Alzheimer’s” Time stops. You were almost certain this

Several years ago, I visited another facility for a course I was taking. I was there over the lunch hour, and we were toured through the “dementia unit,” as the course was related to this topic. They were proud of their modern, newly built area. It was lovely, and they had all the latest in

You dreaded this day. You knew it would come. You saw it coming. You probably put it off too long.Now it’s here. It’s moving day. Your family member is moving into a care situation. You’ve spent month visiting, asking questions and trying to figure out what the best place would be. This one is new

A woman in her 90’s pulls her pants above the knees, sits back and suns her legs. A man with dementia gathers firewood and helps build a fire like he did so many times during family vacations.A man in a wheelchair, virtually blind, becomes teary during a “walk” in the woods, as he remembers his

   Our small community, like many others, was devastated by the effects of the ice storm of December, 2013. For weeks afterwards, ankle-deep piles of broken branches littered the streets. I’ve never been in the aftermath of a hurricane, but the effect on nature must be similar. My heart hurt to see the mess and

Remember the old “B.C.” comics? (You have to be a certain age to know what I’m talking about.) One of the themes had a character climbing a mountain to ask the wise man on the top about the meaning of life. Presumably, after he was told, he would go back down to live his life

“This is my mother.” I was startled by the statement, but even as a newbie to dementia, I knew enough to smile and go along with it. The lady to whom she was referring looked older than her, but only by a few years. Ten at the most. But the lady seemed to agree with

“To take away all risk and chances to make mistakes is to take away the chances to be human.” 1 That’s a radical statement.(I love radical statements!) Isn’t taking away risk what care of the elderly is all about? Think of all the equipment we use to do this. Wheelchairs (with seat belts), walkers, bed

“Gracious words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body.” Prov. 16:24 “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say nothin’ at all.” Thumper During the sermon this morning, tears sprang to my eyes as a memory surfaced. Tears are a sure indication of something deep within me being stirred.

It was a desperate time. My husband was in the cardiac intensive care unit of a Toronto hospital, fighting for his life. His heart was large and floppy and not doing what hearts should do. He was on the list for a heart transplant, and various methods were being used to get him through until