A Favorite Time

As man of you know from reading my blog, the two young men pictured above, used to work for me almost ten years ago now. Chris (left) is in med school in Florida and was in town visiting for the holiday. Josh (right) is the young man who was injured in Afghanistan a few years ago that I have written about frequently. Josh lives nearby now and when Chris comes to town I am so honored that they spend what little time they have to see me and have lunch. Their wives Katie and Melissa are great and we spend a lot of time laughing when we are together. Thanks to all of you for sharing your life with me.

Thanksgiving

I had every intention of posting before Thanksgiving, but got a little sidetracked. I'm working on a project for someone and I got too involved in it. Hope all had a great day. We had a quiet day but the pleasure of having lunch with some friends.....we like to consider them extended family since we have known them for 30 years! I made a bad mistake though when taking my seat at the dinner table. There were nine people -- three people on each side of the table, two on one end and another at the head of the table. I sat on the side of the table in the middle position. It wasn't long before I was caught in crossfire conversation. I started to have a panic attack because of the noise coming at me. I didn't want to get up and leave (although if I did they would have understood) but it was extremely difficult for me to sit there. I couldn't speak and had no idea how to handle it. I didn'thave my earplugs because I had not taken my purse. Obviously, I made it through but it was so difficult. It caught me really off guard and I was mad at myself for putting myself in that position. Spoiling a perfectly good time with friends, because I sat in the wrong chair. Sounds pretty simple doesn't it? Not wanting to correct myself in front of my friends was probably a mistake, but that old pride kicks in and it is hard to combat.

But, I'm thankful that I was able to be with them, I'm thankful for good friends, I'm thankful for everyone's patience.

Please vote

Please link on the story below and vote for the Alzheimer's Association. MetLife is donating $500,000 to four different charities and your vote determines how much money each organization receives. This is just during this week, so please vote today.http://www.alz.org/news_and_events_21075.asp?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=News&utm_content=Twitter

Thanks

for all your emails and posts lately to everyone. Carol I think it is great you are going to Disney -- I hope you have a wonderful time. You're unique that you can look at your situation the way you can -- give your husband a hug from me!

Thanks

to Dr. Glass at the Gerentology Dept. at the University of Georgia for having me over to speak to her class this week. I appreciate the opportunity and your students were great!

Mail and friends

Personal mail -- something we don't get very much of anymore. Most people know I like to make cards and have always been a letter writer. Young people these days don't understand that and if my son is reading this he is probably rolling his eyes. So, it was very refreshing to receive a beautiful hand written note from a young lady in California. She had emailed me a few weeks back and she was working on a project for a class on Alzheimer's. She asked if I would answer a few questions for her via email. She was very sweet in understanding that I might not be able to answer all of them and to only answer the ones I felt comfortable with. I did the best I could and this week I received a hand written note from her thanking me for my time. She could have just as easily emailed me back with a thank you but she took the time out of her day to get a card, write a note and send it to me. Thank you Kirsten -- that meant the world to me and I hope your project went well.

I miss the letter writing. I don't do very well with it these days so I hope that my cards speak for themselves. I'm old fashioned that way I guess.

Today my husband and I had lunch with a lovely couple. Both of these people had been my son's teachers in high school. While my son was on the Academic Decathlon team he spent more time with them than he did with us, but considering they went to nationals each year and he learned so much we were so glad he got the opportunity. And, what great role models they were for him. I couldn't think of two nicer people for my son to be around. They will always mean a lot to me and to our son.

In the last few days several people have asked me about my Alzheimer's and "where I'm at with that". Some people don't want to ask because they really aren't sure how to either broach the subject or they are not sure that I want to talk about it. But, I respect these people in their approach -- they have started by asking something like "would it be inappropriate for me to ask about your Alzheimer's". That is so considerate and it is nice to know they are interested. So many people act is if it is like a big elephant in the room and it is so much easier to talk about it than to have it hanging over your head.

Our Memory Walk team raised the most money in the state......or at least we did until a company in Atlanta found out about it and matched it! But, that is good, because more money was raised by them matching it! A challenge is on for next year!

Bliss

I have had the best three days. My husband has been out of town and it has been wonderful. I know that sounds bad, but he knows what I mean. It is so quiet, I don't have to listen to the tv or the radio, I don't have to have a conversation if I don't want to. I'm not as tired when he is gone. I don't realize what a difference it makes until he is gone. But my three days of peace is coming to an end.....I hate it, but back to trying to deal with reality!



Another nice thing that happened this weekend that I was invited to Augusta to speak at the Memory Walk. They did a really nice job and had about 1,000 people there. It was a little chilly to start out with but turned out to be a beautiful day. An added bonus was my long time friend, Suzanne went with me and we were able to catch up in the car. I'll post photos when I get them. Thanks to Kathy, Dee Dee and Kimberly in the Augusta Alzheimer's Association office.

Not a good week

OK -- I know it's only Tuesday but this week doesn't shape up too well for now. And, last week wasn't that great either. In the last 9 days a neighbor has died (way too early), two other friends are battling some extreme situations, I didn't have good doctor reports at either the neurologist or the orthopedic doctor dealing with my knee.

This weekend (so far) is looking good -- my husband is heading out of town for a few days and I cannot wait for the quiet in my house. It will give me time to rest and regroup. However, last night he told me there was a chance he wasn't going. He is hardly ever gone and I so look forward to when he leaves for a few days. I'll have to wait and see how things go.

I am looking forward also to going to Augusta this weekend. They have asked me to come and speak at their Memory Walk on Saturday morning. I haven't been there in a long time and I am anxious to see the staff down there.

Hope everyone gets out to vote today.