Now that the Florida mornings are a bit cooler, I’ve started taking Dad outside onto our screened patio for his usual breakfast of oatmeal, and apple sauce with his powdered meds mixed in. He seemed to enjoy sitting there, looking around the backyard with unusual alertness. A gentle breeze made the crepe myrtle branches sway…
Author Archives: admin
Crimes against the Elderly
The last few weeks have been difficult, and this is partly the reason for a gap in posts. Mom has suddenly lost much of the vision in her “good” eye and is understandably fearful of what is to come. Certainly life is more complicated now. She can’t read her bills, write her checks, dial a…
Three clarities
In brief spurts at random times Dad seems to reach a clarity of mind and speech. Three such especially poignant episodes have occurred recently. The most heart-rending of these has happened perhaps on 3-4 occasions over the past 3 months. This is when he says “I am so sorry, I am so sorry. I didn’t…
Death by Hospice
Years ago Dad’s doctor suggested that we contact a local hospice for support. We didn’t feel that Dad was at the end of the road, but we were told that hospice would provide care for someone with a terminal illness even if the end of life was likely distant. A hospice social worker came by…
URL for sale
I mentioned this earlier in a tweet, but I’ll do it again here—I am selling the URL alzheimershometeam.com. Contact me at info@alzheimersfamilycare.com if you are interested.
The Forgotten Suicide
Years ago, perhaps as many as 15, during one of my visits home, my father took me aside and spoke to me in a quiet and earnest voice. This was a period of considerable turmoil in his relationship with my mentally disturbed brother, who, with his wife, had been forced by lack of money to…