January, 2022 - Meanderings

A Red-letter Week

Most people have a red-letter day when something extraordinarily good happens. I had a red-letter week.

First is the confirmation that I am a 2022 Honouree:

100 Accomplished Black Canadian Women

I am honoured and humbled to be among this class of distinguished women. I thought things could not get any better. Then this equally exciting news:

My book: My Bert Has Alzheimer’s: Caregiving is Living for Two is published.

You may view details at: https://books.friesenpress.com/store/title/119734000213242990

Ever since the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s I have immersed myself in learning about dementia and the marvellous mysteries of the brain. They are both fascinating and complex.

What is the use of learning without sharing? The more I learnt the more I wanted to share. It became more urgent as I realized that much of what I was learning in the hands-on practical theatre of caring for a person with dementia came from people like me. They opened their hearts and minds and wrote down their own experiences and in so doing helped me to develop best caring practices for both my Bert and for me.

The disease is as individual as each person that contracts it. Just as no two people are carbon copies of each other, so too the disease chameleon-like manifests itself differently and uniquely in each individual.

My hope is that anyone reading this slice of life of my Bert and me will find information, support, and guidance whether they are in a caregiving situation or not. Alzheimer’s is here to stay. It is the most prevalent form of dementia.. I wish I had been more informed before I was ambushed by the diagnosis.

Worldwide distribution should happen in approximately four weeks. In addition to FriesenPress Bookstore it will be available at Amazon; Barnes and Noble; and in eBook format on Kindle (Amazon); Google Books, iTunes Bookstore. You may also check in at your local bookstore and your local library.

The Meander: To share is to care.

Requiem 2022-01-17 (For Bob)

My friend died today.

Did he know

That he had friends

That he died

That it happened today?

What is today when time has lost its meaning?

It seems the slow death has won

But only for today.

The peaceful visage

His best look in months

Spelt release, relief, respite.

He could not say goodbye

He did not say farewell

He forgot.

He just left

Going in Peace and quiet

As his soul melded with the dawn.

With sense of humour intact

He flipped therapeutic lying with a silent

“See you later.”

He of the melodious voice

Now sings in the angelic choir.

“Rest in Peace”, friend.

“See you later.”

The Meander:

Deja Vu All Over Again

At the beginning of each New Year there is that chore that is immediate and necessary. It is to transfer vital information from the past year to the coming year.

That includes birthdays, phone numbers and new information learned that must find a place in the current year. Most important are the new people met who have already become important in my life. These are the keepers that give continuity to the year that now dawns.

January 1, 2022 I wrote in my new desk calendar:

“Oh, how I wish this is a better year than 2021!” I then went to January 1, 2021 to begin the transfers and burst out laughing when I read:

“I hope this year will be better than 2020!”

Into my head popped the Yogi-ism: “It’s like déjà vu all over again.” I thought Yogi Berra, the New York Yankee Hall of Famer certainly had the most appropriate expression for my own déjà vu as recorded in the desk calendars.

Did anyone think the world would be in an even more devastating grip of the latest variant of the Covid-19 virus, Omicron? Its vice-like hold is pushing us backwards to 2020, spreading with lightning speed and accompanied by new restrictions, depressive news, mental anguish, isolation, frustration, and fear for loved ones.

Yet there is hope. Happy New Year! is the usual greeting. The many beautiful holiday wishes have not yet faded. There is less fear though the immediate question following the cheerful greeting is: “Have you got your booster shot as yet?” Last year the question was: “Are you fully vaccinated?”

And there are moments of gratitude too. A friend was able to do her philanthropic visit to her project in Malawi in between a brief travel advisory hiatus and more travel bans. Our little family was able to be together for a time on Christmas Day as we are essential caregivers to Dad. A very special group of friends gathered to share lunch in Niagara-on-the-Lake. As even more restrictions are announced that limits indoor gatherings to five people another friend said: “Thank goodness our tiny bubble is three people and we are all triple vaccinated so we can still have tea or dinner at home with one another.”

Our family has been to Greece. We love that country very much but we are all somewhat bemused that we are learning the Greek alphabet, in Canada, through the spreading of a virus. Somehow the naming of hurricanes with Greek names does not have the same impact. Perhaps we prefer whole names to single letters and live in hope that this virus is not the omega of our existence.

Yes, 2022 may seem like déjà vu of 2021 but it’s not entirely so. There are significant differences. We are resilient. We have vaccines and soon virus fighting pills. The arsenal grows as we learn more and more about it. We have not given up and we won’t.

The Meander: Covid-19 is not the omega of our world. Instead it can be the alpha of our new beginnings, new visions, and the harbinger of a new normal that is being created even as we try to figure out what that will be. Let’s continue to live in Hope.