General topics.

Don Messer and his Islanders! I remember them.

Okay Canadian members, I've just been taking a trip down memory lane listening to some of Don Messer's fiddling on YouTube. Too bad I never had that to play for my mom.

Wishing everyone Happy New Year!
2023 has been strange to say the least.
I have hopes, dreams, aspirations and desire to change many things.
Day or two ago dietitian on TV said how she was anti-diet being one of popular resolution for new year.
We all fail, so enjoy that slice of cake or chocolate once in awhile. We deserve it.
Wishing everyone peace and good health.
And most importantly care about yourself as much as you care about others!

Jamieh,

You can remind her that she lives in a retirement community now where she has friends , activities and staff to wait on her .
I’m sorry but you will be repeating the same thing over and over again .

Wishing everyone a very Happy New Year 🎆!

Hello. Mother has been in memory care for four months. She doesn't know where she is or what to do. Every day is like a new day of confusion. How can I help her over the phone as I live 4 hours away. Thank you for any suggestions

Merry Christmas!

Joyeux Noel, Feliz Navidad.
Joyful Xmas to all caregivers.
New Year to bring resolutions and peace.

Buon Natale! May you have a physically, emotionally and spiritually peace-filled holiday!

Christmas blessings to you and yours!

Merry Christmas to all. I really appreciate all the support I’ve received. It’s helped me immensely. Thank you.

Merry Christmas to all the AC family!

May today be a new beginning for everyone here. May the coming year be filled with mercy, grace and love for us ALL.

Merry Christmas 🎄🎁!

Merry Christmas to all!

Ho Ho Ho. Happy Christmas everyone 🎄🎅🏻

Gershun: Your avatar is beautiful.

Just popping by to wish everyone a safe, healthy and happy Christmas!

Like Alva’s comment, on better side of normal like all of us on AC. Ha, ha,
Seriously, everybody is helpful, even constructive criticism is helpful, only few people could not tolerate it.

Ha, I just spent some time searching that subreddit and the whole thread has been deleted so I have nothing to fear. Yay for good moderators!

I'm mostly on the cooking and gardening subreddits, but I like to browse the news and a few others just to check out what people outside my normal bubble are saying. Some places are definitely toxic and I'm not tempted to even peek at those.
Reddit used to be the hip place for teens and slightly older, now a lot of those same people are in their 30's so I find stuff they say a little more relatable. It can be fun to scroll through the hot posts of the day.

I was on Reddit when I was looking for info on dual citizenship. It is not a reliable source for information. Even there on that forum there were weirdos.

cwillie, from what I understand of Reddit (never went there) aren't these questionable folk somewhat the norm?
Do you have Forums there that you enjoy that are normally "normal", or on the better side of normal like ALL of us at AC?
Anyway, I trust you! You can handle these folks with one hand tied behind your back!

I just stepped in a pile of 💩 over on Reddit by calling out a bunch of bigoted sounding comments, now I'm kinda afraid to go back.

Send, my SIL is a very kind person. I controlled my tears pretty quickly. I almost felt like she wanted me to cry more. In fact, (and this is my paranoid self talking) I kind of thought after, that she deliberately brought my mom up to test the waters on how I've been feeling. Everyone in my fam knows how close mom and I were and since I haven't seen any of them since before covid no one really knows how I've been doing without mom.

Maybe my brother (her husband) put her up to asking me for coffee cause the invite kind of came out of the blue. Like I said, I don't trust my family. Although my SIL is a sweet, kind person so even if this were the case I'm not mad about it.

Right now is a gift, that's why it is called the present.

Remembering this can help us stay in the present, hopefully, with Thanksgiving and gratitude.

Margaret,

I love your words on this topic. I feel very much the same way. It’s called, ‘living in the moment.’ Thanks for this reminder.

People can get caught up in their emotions and tend to live in the past far more than they should.

It’s fine to visit the past occasionally. We shouldn’t become stuck in the past. Like you, I do think we should have a realistic view of the past instead of glamorizing it.

At some point we must learn to enjoy the present. That is what our loved ones who are gone now would want for us.

This is a reminder that ‘missing people’ can be based on very selective memories. I find that I am ‘missing’ my first husband, who died a few years ago. There is no-one left in my world who shares the memories of what we did together when we were both young. We got on better in his last days, and a few more pleasant conversations would be really nice.

But there are many memories of him that aren’t so good, and I have no regrets that we parted. Even fewer that I am now married to Tony.

So enjoy the happy memories, but don’t let them trick you into being miserable that they are gone!

Mint,

I can relate to what you’re saying. There have been many times when I miss someone so deeply that I long to be with them again.

Naturally, we will always remember the people who brought meaning and purpose in our lives.

You are grieving and experiencing normal feelings during this time. I’m so very sorry for your loss.

I’m grieving the loss of my older brother who died recently. It’s hard to lose people that we love so much.

I loved my parents dearly. I was also close to my mother in law who was a lifeline for me at times. We can feel lost without them.

Even though they no longer share our physical world with us, they left us with so many precious memories for us to cherish.

Sometimes I get very sad when I am reminiscing and other times I smile because I am filled with joy that I had them in my life.

Take comfort in knowing that you were deeply loved by your mom. Wishing you peace during this holiday season.

Gershun,

I have those moments too. It’s normal for memories to come to the surface occasionally.

Your mom would understand how you are feeling but she would also want you to celebrate her life and feel joy.

You had an incredible bond with your mother. That bond will never die. Just because someone is no longer here with us doesn’t mean that we don’t feel their presence in our lives.

I don’t think we can ever forget about people who we loved so deeply.

The holidays can be a difficult time for people who miss their loved ones.

Sending tons of hugs your way!

Gershun,
Do you think that your Sil minded that you cried?
She probably feels closer to you that you trusted her enough to be yourself around her.
What do you think?