Share a smile today.

Find the “sunshine” in your day today!

CAREGIVER NOTE:
It was a tough day. Short term memory – went MIA yesterday. An earlier in the day 3 hour excursion in the truck was totally missing from his memory bank. A fun conversation sharing his experiences with me after coming home was also gone. While difficult, it didn’t escalate. He later stated that it’s very scary when he can’t remember things. We stated very plainly throughout the remainder of the day that we’re here to support him and would always be here for him and hoped that he would continue to trust us as he continues to move through the aging process.

Breathe it.  Feel it.  Live it! 

CAREGIVER NOTE:

Sometimes they need multiple reminders about things coming in the future. That “niggle” was back yesterday afternoon. Luckily, we were able to resolve the “worry” quickly by reminding him that no steps had been taken on the process he’d thought about initiating earlier in the week. He was relieved to say the least and happy to know that no further action was needed in that moment and we marked the calendar with the date he would need to decide about the next step.

Make a dream come true!

CAREGIVER NOTE:

Weekly outings have been so important. Son and father spending time together. Shopping, sight-seeing… and so much more. They come back exhausted but happy to have spent the time doing something together. They generally finish their outing with a late lunch before coming home. We hear the “tales” of the day – the good, the bad and the laughable. Both grateful for the visit and time spent catching up and exploring new things.

Be the difference in someone’s day, including your own.  

Have faith, light and hope today and every day. 

CAREGIVER NOTE:

Tired is good, overtired is not good. He is in the midst of setting a new routine — regarding bedtimes. He’s pretty much settled in bed around 7:30. He’s gradually made his time earlier and earlier over the course of the last couple of months.

In doing this, his sleeping pattern has improved a bit and he’s sleeping through the night more frequently and with fewer vivid dreams. He does become a little unsettled during the late afternoon hours, but sundowning isn’t really an issue at this point in time. We’ll see if he adds time as the days grow longer and summer approaches as he stayed up later last summer.

Great things! Anticipate something great is coming your way today.

CAREGIVER NOTES:
Anticipating some interesting moments over the next couple of weeks:

1. An appointment with an ortho for a possible break in the left hip area — but hasn’t experienced any pain since the middle of January. No big falls that we are aware of — and not that he would tell us either if we didn’t hear or see it first hand.
2. We found a large model airplane for him to put together. He’s excited! Now to set up a workspace for him that can be left up for an undetermined amount of time. Looking at options on how to rearrange things so they can get started on the build! 🙂

Hoping today’s count is a long one!

CAREGIVER NOTE:

Somedays you just have to smile…. and move on.

CAREGIVER NOTE:

Reminisce often. Talk about family. Talk about experiences. Even venture into the vivid dream realm. Validate when possible.

Fill your day with all the good you can throw at it..