Category Alzheimer’s disease

COVID-19 Caregiving Challenges

March 23, 2020 · by · in Alzheimer's disease, Book, Books, Family, Health, Navigating Alzheimer's, The Alzheimer's Spouse · 1 Comment

In the best of times, caring for our loved ones with dementia can be stressful. Under the cloud of COVID-19, we can be pushed to our limits. In addition to the round the clock supervision and direction, we have the concerns about sanitation. Loved ones with dementia are typically messy in the bathroom and at […]

One Year Later

March 7, 2020 · by · in Alzheimer's disease, Book, Books, Death and Dying, Faith, Family, Midwest, The Alzheimer's Spouse · 3 Comments

Life goes on. Our loved ones pass and it’s a day, a week, a year. Before we know it, it’s 21 years since we last kissed their cheek, as it is with my mother. Our loved ones are frozen in time. We remember them just as we saw them last. But we keep growing older, […]

Work as Worship

February 21, 2020 · by · in Alzheimer's disease, Book, Books, Catholic, Christian, Navigating Alzheimer's, The Alzheimer's Spouse · Leave a comment

My wise, yoga friend, Hansa, asked what I’ve been up to. I told her that I was working a lot, grateful for the work, but had little free time. She responded, “Work is worship. Yes, we get paid, but we also worship through our work.” I’ve been pondering Hansa’s words and understand what she was […]

God’s Curious Timing

February 3, 2020 · by · in Alzheimer's disease, Book, Books, Catholic, Christian, Death and Dying, Faith, Family, Navigating Alzheimer's, Saint Mother Theodore Guerin, Saint Theodora and Her Promise to God, Saint Theodora Guerin, Seven Principles of Sainthood, spirituality, The Alzheimer's Spouse, Young in the Spirit · Leave a comment

God pushes us. The tougher the situations we’re presented, the more likely we’ll also be offered opportunities to use our God-given gifts to assist others in similar situations. I’ve been richly blessed as well as greatly challenged most of my life. But that doesn’t seem to be an excuse to slack off through my senior […]

Dementia-Style Holidays

November 26, 2019 · by · in Alzheimer's disease, Book, Books, Family, Health, Navigating Alzheimer's, The Alzheimer's Spouse · Leave a comment

When Alzheimer’s is on the scale, a drop of anything can send everything crashing. Families long for the traditions that mark the holidays. Special foods, music, colors, clothing, and decor trigger emotions and tie memories of the past with the ones we make today. Sadly, our meaningful traditions are likely to be too much for […]

The Long Inevitable Good-Bye

November 8, 2019 · by · in Alzheimer's disease, Book, Books, Death and Dying, Faith, Family, Navigating Alzheimer's, The Alzheimer's Spouse · Leave a comment

Marshall passed away 8 months ago today. His passage still disturbs me. Witnessing such a strong, active man decline over more than 15 years and then in the end to become so very frail, dependent on total care for every basic need, retching from drug withdrawal, and unable to communicate, was death by a thousand […]

Walking Away from Alzheimer’s Disease

September 10, 2019 · by · in Alzheimer's disease, Book, Books, Navigating Alzheimer's, The Alzheimer's Spouse · 1 Comment

We are counting down the days to the Alzheimer’s Association Walk in my area. I’ll be walking again in honor of my husband, Marshall Brodien, who passed away this past March. I truly do appreciate all who support me and the rest of us who get out there. More than 5.7 million Americans are diagnosed […]

Easing Our Way Out of this World

August 22, 2019 · by · in Alzheimer's disease, Book, Books, Death and Dying, Family, Health, Navigating Alzheimer's, The Alzheimer's Spouse · Leave a comment

We don’t want to talk or think about it. It’s rarely pretty. Some fear what happens afterwards, and we’d rather cling to what we do know, even if it’s not all that great. Death scares most of us, partly due to the fact that those of us who witness loved ones dying often see them […]

Speak to Me

July 22, 2019 · by · in Alzheimer's disease, Health, Language, Navigating Alzheimer's, The Alzheimer's Spouse · 1 Comment

We are people on the move. Work and leisure take us all over the world, and speaking at least a handful of phrases in the local tongue is not only personally helpful but courteous to those we encounter. With a few words, our ability to connect and learn from diverse peoples grows considerably. Actually, there […]

Love Them Where They Are

June 7, 2019 · by · in Alzheimer's disease, Book, Books, Navigating Alzheimer's, The Alzheimer's Spouse · 2 Comments

Like sunshine on an overcast day rays of the man I knew peek through the clouds leaving me longing for more. How well we who have loved ones with Alzheimer’s disease know the feelings of this poem found in the beginning of my book, Navigating Alzheimer’s. One minute our mother seems to recognize us and […]

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