Replacing the much lamented 'On My Mind' profile option, this thread is for musings, jottings, whimsies, preoccupations and the rest of the thesaurus for anyone to jot down anything they please.
I can't remember what the maximum character count was before, can anyone else? But anyway it wasn't very many so let's keep to that.
Personally I LOVE the stories. It makes your brother real for me.
We can plan for this reaction ahead of time by not being caught off guard, decreasing stress, and getting more rest. Or even taking meds ahead of time.
For the caregivers and the patients.
Moon: 93.9%
Waxing Gibbous
I really, really hope the heart attack portion doesn't come true and it was all just a wild dream. Heart attacks run in her family and she's lost loved one to those. She lost other relatives to strokes.
Plus, younger people don’t want to live like they are in their 80’s, 90’s and 100’s!
Some elderly people aren’t happy unless people do everything they demand from them.
When people spend all of their time and energy on their elderly family members, they don’t have time to spend with friends their own age.
The stress causes caregivers to end up feeling like they are 100 years old!
I worked with the elderly for 20 plus years before I switched to kids.
I loved it. It was rewarding to keep them comfortable , some of them were very enjoyable to be around , they would tell interesting stories . Of course it’s sad as well, and some were very grouchy . But I went home and it was over for the day . After 20 plus years I did need a change and I made that change , worked in schools .
After taking care of difficult elderly family members it has proven to be a totally different dynamic then taking care of strangers .
I’ll give examples .
Professional caring for a patient who is a stranger …..No matter how sad a case was or how difficult a patient is , it’s not personal and you brush it off better and go home .
Daughter caring for difficult aging parent….. Parent does not want to be told what they need to do by the daughter . “ You can’t tell me what to do , I’m your mother “. As dementia got worse it became totally impossible . “ Why are you doing this to me ?” , and crying meltdowns because I asked her to eat . She honestly thought I was being mean to her when I said it was time to wash and put on clean clothes. She got insulted , She eventually refused to do anything . Those things needed to be taken care of by a stranger that my mother did not have any emotional feelings towards . It was very distressing for me as well .
My SIL criticized me for placing my mother in AL . Only a year later my SIL rescued her Mom from living alone with dementia but her Mom was a peach . A pleasant , cooperative lady . My SIL was retired , and her and my brothers house already had an in law bed and bathroom downstairs . The elderly woman had plenty of money to hire caregivers to come into the home as well . My SIL placed her mother in AL right away and eventually memory care anyway because my SIL could not handle watching the decline 24/7 .
I took care of Dad with cancer . At first he was stubborn with some things . But mostly it was fine . When he was really ill and knew he was dying, He was always thanking me so much , that it got uncomfortable . It changed our relationship . I missed my Dad .
This is my second day in a row of not going over there. I’m super anxious. It’s almost harder than being there (so I’m checking the forum every hour lol). But I need to do this.
Rode my exercise bike while listening to my favorite music. Just sitting down enjoying my coffee now.
Music is so soothing for the soul. Remembering fondly how much music meant to my brother. Songs convey beautiful emotions that live on forever.
So is All Saints Day at our cemeteries tomorrow. It’s also known as laToussaint due to our French heritage in Louisiana.
We don’t usually have cold weather for Halloween.
You’re right about wearing jackets. If it was chilly on Halloween when I was young, I’d wear clothes underneath my costume. I didn’t want to cover up my costume!
I love Reese’s peanut butter cups at Halloween! Yep, hard not to indulge.
My husband was a vampire too. We had really cool capes, black lined in red!
I did our makeup. It was fun to wear our costumes and see our everyone else’s costumes.
Vampires are big here. Anne Rice grew up here in New Orleans. Love her books and movies!
Many vampire balls have occurred in our spooky city! There is a fabulous haunted house that is set in an old mortuary.
Anne Rice and her husband are buried here in Lakelawn cemetery, a very beautiful cemetery.
They also host special events and weddings. Can you imagine being married in an old mortuary? 🤣
It’s on Canal Street. themortuary.net
That is funny! My kids didn’t like going trick or treating at the neighbor’s house who is a dentist. He gave out toothbrushes instead of candy! LOL 😆
I remember one year my brothers and I didn’t want Halloween to end. Mom said that we couldn’t knock on a door twice.
Daddy took us to a nearby neighborhood and we were able to trick or treat again! I’m pretty sure that my mom hid some of the candy from us so we didn’t go overboard! 🤣 She was the voice of reason.
Hey, candy will be on sale tomorrow! Maybe I will try some of those.