Respect

How to Improve Your Elder’s Life With This Radical Idea

Elders caring for others is a radical idea. I know, because I had difficulty researching the topic. No matter what words I put in the search engine, it took me to ways to care for elders. Elders contributing, caring, volunteering and giving is unheard of. Let’s change that. Elders already care for others in many […]

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Finding Ways for Your Elder to Give

I killed my tomato plant. I’m a decent gardener and puttering in my garden brings me great joy. I don’t often kill plants. When I saw my tomato plant withering, I took it personally. The plant had come home from the garden centre looking healthy and already growing a few tomatoes. I planted it in

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How to Plan for Healthy Meals for Your Elder

Megan decided she needed to start with a list. She invited her dad over to dinner one night, and after he’d enjoyed a hearty barbecue, she told him what she proposed. “I have some ideas of what you like, but some things may have changed, and I don’t know what to do about vegetables. Then

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How to Find Nutritious Meals for Elders Living Alone

“Hey, Dad.” Megan stepped into her father’s apartment with a fresh load of clean laundry in her arms. Since her mother’s death several months ago, her dad had slowly found his way through the process of living alone. He’d always been a fairly tidy person, so he kept his apartment clean and picked up. Megan

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How to Find Variety in Community For Your Elder

“No.” All her life, Maggie had been in the middle of everything. A little raucous and “off the wall,” irreverent and fun, full of life. But life had almost drained from her, and as a widow, blind and in a wheelchair, she didn’t bubble as she used to. She barely simmered most days.  So when

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On the Twelfth Day of Christmas, Dementia Gave to Me…

It’s almost here, and I’d better share quickly so you can use these ideas for the big event. Or pass them on. Or maybe next year. On the Ninth Day of Christmas, Dementia Gave to Me…Christmas Cards I can’t remember the last time I sent physical Christmas cards. Many years ago, I switched to a

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How to Have Difficult Conversations With Your Elder

Everyone in the family knew that Grandpa couldn’t hear well. The television roared when he listened to it, and the radio sounded at levels that rivalled his teenage grandchildren. In conversation, he growled about family members “muttering.” Why couldn’t anyone speak up these days? Conversations addressing the problem never went well. Grandpa would go off

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Dementia Has a Name, But It’s Not Your Elder’s.

Something about this quiet, gentle man intrigued me. I saw unconventional in his grey pony tail, I saw intelligence in his perceptive questions, but my overwhelming impression was a penetrating sadness. His wife of many years had moved to our floor because her dementia meant it wasn’t safe for her to live alone with him.

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An Empathetic Peek Inside the Mind With Dementia

Do you have a hot button? An event, a chance comment, something you hate doing because it pulls a negative trigger inside you? For me, it’s anything that makes me feel stupid. As a little girl,  I often missed things. We would drive in the country and my parents would point out cows or horses

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Should Grandma Stay Home From the Celebration?

Sarah wanted to do something special for her husband, who “walked with dementia.” He’d always been a sports fan, and she decided she would take him to see one of his favourite teams play. He’d always loved live games, and maybe there’d be a moment which would bring back happy memories. It was a lot

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