Author: nurtureyrheart

Mom, Wife, Grandma, Multi-media Artist, Word-Smith, former elder caregiver

Take a chance on a dream and grow a little today.

CAREGIVER NOTE:
We took a long walk down memory lane yesterday — several hours of stories with slight embellishments with each retelling. He was all smiles and a bit of laughter as he shared. After he finished, he sighed and wanted to rest. His gait is more of a shuffle now and he would rather hold onto the walls and furniture as he moves around rather than use the walker which he strongly suggests is a hindrance rather than a help. He will take an arm or a shoulder for extra help if it is offered.

He is still in love with his talking watch and he was checking it about 2am this morning. He was a bit disappointed that it wasn’t any later than it was, but went back to sleep after about 5 minutes of near constant checking and recognizing that the time hadn’t changed much.

Make today the best day possible. 

CAREGIVER NOTE:

Celebrating his going outside to sit in the sunshine for a few minutes yesterday. He heard a dove cooing in the tree across the fence line, a neighbor’s dog barking with another dog a yard away. The song birds were singing too and we could hear the kids from next door playing with each other. He was happy with all the “noise” and a bit of fresh air. The temps were perfect and little to no breeze. He was content for about 15 minutes before asking to go back inside. I doubt we’ll make it outside today with anticipated rain and wind, but we’ll see if there’s a break and he’ll agree to at least walk around the deck a couple of times.

fill your heart with some music today.

CAREGIVER NOTE:

Slipping into the past for a major portion of the day – reframing or redirecting in certain scenarios is a little more difficult when he insists he needs to write a letter so family members (long deceased) will have his address. I’ve no doubt he’s lonely and would love to spend time with them, but looking at pictures and not being able to call or hear their voices makes it all the harder at many levels.

4.3.24

CAREGIVER NOTE:

He’s up and anxious about something, but can’t tell me what… He’s shuffled back into his bedroom and has turned out the lights and is crawling back into bed — still dressed which isn’t his norm. So we’ll see where the day takes us when he gets up again in a few minutes.

What’s on your list?

CAREGIVER NOTE:
I think I jinxed us. Sundowning and the vivid dreams made an appearance again and he was adamant about having helped his folks move to an apartment at the end of the street. From his description of the “experience,” he was back in his hometown. Thankfully, he didn’t demand a ride in the car to go check on them. He was able to settle down a bit after we reminded him he’d done everything he could to help them earlier in the day and they were probably exhausted and sleeping as he should try to do as well. We shared a list of things on the agenda for today with him and he seemed excited about helping check off a few of those things including his weekly trip to a favorite restaurant for a meal.

Fingers crossed for a good day and a better night ahead.