Friday, November 25, 2011

Photos from Thanksgiving

Jennifer and Alan were kind enough to invite us for dinner with Jen's parents. Nice to be a guest for a change! Thanks Alan and Jennifer!

Relaxing after Thanksgiving Dinner


Jen and her mom enjoying the food.


Alan after dinner



Alan and I sharing the swing at the park behind their apartment after dinner.



I love to swing -- although only kids were suppose to be on the swings I couldn't resist!


If I hadn't had a dress on I would have been in the middle of this!


Of course, everyone cleaned their plate!


Lots of good food made by Jen and Alan

Going through our Australian scrapbook with Jennifer's parents.

Alan found this wine in Atlanta -- from Australia -- and the little island where we saw the "Little Penguins".

Jen didn't have to call us twice to the dinner table!

Carving the turkey she made for us!
















Thanksgiving

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. We can all be grateful for so many things. I'm most grateful for friends and family. Today, I met a new friend. I've known other members of her family for a long time, but never got to actually meet her until today. What a lovely young woman she is. So beautiful, so well spoken, so loving and so down to earth. What a refreshing friend to meet. I'm thankful for that. When you think about it, you don't really meet that many people that truly become friends -- usually just someone you meet in passing. It's a treasure to find a "new friend".

We had a nice quiet Thanksgiving with son and daughter-in-law and her parents in Atlanta yesterday. Jennifer and Alan did most of the cooking and it was nice to sit back and be pampered a bit. I'm glad they are closer to home now and that we can enjoy their company more often.

Monday, November 14, 2011

My friend Ruby



came to visit me today.

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Series about Alzheimer's

In today's edition of the Atlanta Journal Consitution, the first articles of several about Alzheimer's is published. The link is here http://www.ajc.com/health/slow-descent-into-the-1224104.html. There will be more articles in the weeks to come. Thought you might want to take a look.

Tuesday, November 01, 2011

The All Weather Friend's Guide to Alzheimer's Disease

is a book you must get if you are a friend or caregiver to someone with Alzheimer's. This book is a real "hands on" book in helping you to communicate with those that have the disease. Dr. Mary Cail is the author and she has certainly done her research on this book.

After I was first diagnosed people didn't know how to talk to me. They thought (and some still do) that I couldn't think for myself, that I couldn't understand them and they would talk around me, not to me. They would (and some still do) say --"You look great -- you don't have Alzheimer's", or "we all forget things every now and then I'm sure you're fine". They say things like this because they don't know what else to say. Dr. Cail helps you out with this. She gives you avenues to go down with those with the disease -- in all stages of the disease, not just early on-set.

Some of the stories in the book are sad, but you need to read them. It will help you understand the disease from the perspective of someone who has Alzheimer's.

In terms of full disclosure, I must tell you that she has used some things from this blog in her book, but that isn't why you should buy it. She deals with the "elephant in the room" kinds of things that happen on a regular basis to us that have the disease. No one wants to broach the subject but she helps you through this. She shows that we don't have to be "alone" in our disease if our friends and family know how to deal with it. Most Alzheimer's patients and family will tell you that after the diagnosis, friends pull away. You don't get those invitations to go out, you don't get company very often. Dr. Cail tells you how to feel comfortable in those situations.

Some of my friends point blank asked me after my diagnosis -- what should I say to you if I see you and you don't recognize me? I was grateful for the question, because they cared enough to want to know the answer. Today, sometimes I see people I know out shopping and they avoid me -- I don't know if they avoid me because they didn't see me or if they just don't know what to say. I know it's hard. but friends make the effort and this book helps.

Dr. Cail's book can be found on Amazon at
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=The+All-Weather+Friend%27s+Guide+to+Alzheimer%27s+Disease&x=0&y=0

I can't do the book justice here, but if you get the book, you'll be glad you did. And, share it with your friends -- it will help them understand Alzheimer's so much more.

I'm back

Finally getting to the computer to write a few things. We are back, trying to get over the jet lag and also colds we caught on the trip. The trip was great -- guess I really don't need to say that to those that have been to Australia and seen how beautiful it is. I don't remember a lot of what we did, but hopefully going through photos will help me. My daughter-in-law took a lot of photos and they are really great. My husband is going through them now, and I hope to spend some time trying to chronicle our time there. It was a tough trip, but I'm so glad I went. I know it probably wasn't easy traveling with me, but my family didn't let on if it was. When I got tired, Jen and Alan did get to go out on their own and I don't think I held them back too much -- I appreciate everyone's patience with me.