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One Year Ago

Written about one year ago, this was the first piece I ever wrote about caregiving. It was suppose to be my first blog post about this new role. Yesterday I put down Sally, my sweet dog of 13 years instead of taking my mother's check book away from her because she has Alzheimer's, and she can't keep track of her paperwork anymore. Not a very nice swap if you ask me. When I came home from the vet's office with my husband, I went for a walk in the woods by myself. He couldn't come with me because he has Parkinson's Disease and the beginnings of the associated dementia. He was once my beloved man of the woods. It was he who introduced me to the breath and spirit of the woods. A place where the ebb and flow of time feels so right. And where the air is always sweet and rejuvenating. Even yesterday I could feel it. I breathed deep and long - hoping to hold on to it through the long days I knew I had ahead of me. So that's kind of it. There is more of cours
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January 7, 2018 - All You Have to Do Is Touch Me

Yesterday was a hard morning for my husband. Most mornings now he wakes up incredibly nauseous. Typically, it is from an excess amount of mucus in his throat after a night's sleep. Usually a cup of hot tea in bed does the trick. But sometimes he just gets a wave of intense nausea, even during the day and without warning. I have learnt that these are common issues with Parkinson's disease.  Later in the morning, after he had more time in bed and then while I was helping him dress, he said to me, "You know, it is amazing really, that I can feel so very sick - then all you have to do is touch me and I feel so much better." I quietly smiled in reply. After Sam had eaten and settled back in bed for a nap, I sat on the couch alone letting the warmth of the early afternoon winter sun warm my back. I looked curiously down at my small hands and had to smile at the mere thought of my sweet man speaking in amazement about the age-old power of touch and how he and I have com
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