I don't really understand how or why, but those stars bring me strength. They fill me with an energy and a resolve that is hard to describe.....By Bob DeMarco
Alzheimer's Reading Room
In order to be an effective Alzheimer's caregiver you must be willing to learn. One of the interesting and trying aspects of taking care of someone with Alzheimer's is that they keep changing. They keep changing the rules. Every time the rules change there is more to learn.
Alzheimer's caregiving and learning -- a never ending cycle.
The first thing you must learn is that you are not alone. It is easy to say but hard to do -- I am not alone.
Previously, I wrote Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. I guess you could say I was lucky. I like to look up at the sky. I like to look at the clouds, I like to look a the weather moving in an out, I like to look at the stars.
One night a long time ago, I went out at night and looked up into the sky. Soon I started thinking, those stars are all the Alzheimer's caregivers in the World. The longer I looked the more stars came into my vision. I imagined what all those caregivers might be doing.
This exercise empowered me. It filled me with strength and a resolve. I never mentioned before on this blog what it was I resolved.
I decided -- We Will Beat Alzheimer's disease. I was not under any illusion that my mother would miraculously recover. I didn't think she would be cured. I did decide that we would live our life as we always had. To the degree possible.
This is how you beat Alzheimer's. You learn, you adjust, when the rules change, you change. You live your life.
Along the road to victory I keep meeting more and more of those stars in the sky. One by one.
I don't really understand how or why, but those stars bring me strength. They fill me with an energy and a resolve that is hard to describe.
At the end, I'll look at myself in the mirror.
What do I think and believe I will say?
We Beat Alzheimer's disease.
Then I'll go look at the stars and wonder what all the Alzheimer's caregivers in the world are doing -- right at that moment.
More About the Alzheimer's Reading Room
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- Alzheimer's Disease Statistics
- What is Alzheimer's? What are the Eight Types of Dementia?
- Alzheimer's Dementia Caregiving -- Advice and Insight
- Does the Combination of Aricept and Namenda Help Slow the Rate of Decline in Alzheimer's Patients
- Communicating in Alzheimer's World
- Is it Really Alzheimer's or Something Else?
- 2010 Alzheimer's Disease Facts and Figures
- 60 Good Reasons to Subscribe to the Alzheimer's Reading Room
Bob DeMarco is the editor of the Alzheimer's Reading Room and an Alzheimer's caregiver. Bob has written more than 1,400 articles with more than 9,000 links on the Internet. Bob resides in Delray Beach, FL.
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Original content Bob DeMarco, the Alzheimer's Reading Room