Living with an Early-onset Dementia Diagnosis
(Originally posted in Facebook on August 20, 2019)
I’m always amazed how important routines and patterns that he can depend on have become to M. Not even big routines, like the alarm going off at 5 am and dinner at 6 pm . . . but Continue reading “Never Give Up!”
(Originally posted in Facebook on April 22, 2019)
Good days, challenging days. Blessed days, forgotten days. There are days that you want to remember forever and days that you really don’t.
Yesterday, I asked M to clean up some of the outdoor toys for the grandchildren to play with when they came to the house. I had gotten a bucket and sponge together and handed them to M, along with a bottle of dish soap and told him what needed to be cleaned.
M: Do I need to put water in here?
Me: Yes, you’ll need water.
M: Should I use hot or cold water?
Me: It’s up to you. Do you want to clean the toys with hot or cold water?
He seemed very confused by the whole process, but eventually got the job done. Our grandson had a great time hunting for Easter eggs at the house and loved playing with all the freshly cleaned toys. Win!
Later, my daughter-in-law told me that my sons had talked to M about taking a guy’s road trip to Philadelphia for a Phillies baseball game this summer, but that M hadn’t seemed interested in doing it. WHAT?!?!
I talked to him about it later, after everyone had gone home and he didn’t say much. Just that he wasn’t sure about the time and that he knew he couldn’t miss work.
As long as it’s a weekend trip, these are the things he NEEDS to be doing now – while he can. I want to encourage it and I’m so grateful to our boys for thinking of it. I’m going to talk it up and do everything I can to make it happen. I think it will be a great thing and something the boys will always remember.