Throughout our entire marriage, M has always been very handy when things needed to be done around the house. Neither one of us knows very much about carpentry, but he could always handle anything to do with electricity, appliances or the basic wear and tear as things break when you own a home.
However, in the last couple of years, it has seemed more difficult for him to do some of these things. He hasn’t had the interest and/or the ability to do what he used to.
Monday morning, the marble kick plate on the step up from the garage to our kitchen lost its grip on the wall behind it and fell over. Fortunately, it didn’t break, but it needed to be fixed. I left for work and wasn’t sure what M was going to do about it.
I was amazed to find that he replaced the board behind the marble piece. Then he got the epoxy he needed and put the marble piece back in place. When I got home, he told me several times how proud of himself he was for doing that. It was so sweet – and good to see – that he could do it and how pleased with himself he was.
M has an appointment this afternoon with his neurologist and I want to find out more information about support groups in the area for M and for me, if there are any available. So far, the only ones I’ve been able to find meet during the day, which isn’t helpful to me. Also, I’d like to know about programs for M to keep him engaged and occupied. Let’s see what he says.
In our local area (Oregon) there was a day program at an assisted living facility that was a fabulous resource for a client of mine that had Alzheimer’s. It really helped a lot to keep him engaged and occupied when he was living on his own but really needed a little outside contact. So hoping you can find good resources for M and you. Our local Alzheimer’s association https://www.alz.org is a good resource but I know they vary quite a bit by location. (And yay for the victory of installing the kick plate successfully!)
That’s good information! I’ll look into it. The doctor is going to connect us with the social worker in memory care, so I’m hoping there is more info available.
Glad you had a good day to celebrate! Best of luck finding a group that fits you both well.
There’s bound to be SOMETHING – I just hope it’s for people our age. That seems to be the issue.
Hoping you find the perfect support group for both of you.
Thank you! The Facebook group seems to have mostly caregivers for older adults. Still looking . . .