Writing about our experiences with dementia can help us help others One of the hardest parts about Dad’s dementia over the last few years was Mom’s reluctance to talk about what was happening. She didn’t want to be perceived as a complainer and also didn’t want anything to change. …

I’ve been reading through my dementia journals, and thought I’d share one of my entries with you. This is an older one, but still so fresh in my mind as I read over it again. There’s a saying that it takes a village to raise a child. The same is…

Does early diagnosis impact access to support and quality of care? — A close friend confided to me this week that “something’s wrong.” He’s doing things he never would have done in the past, she said. At 55 years old, she suspects the lapses in judgment she’s noticing in her husband are early signs of Alzheimer’s. …

I read an insightful post by Shaunta Grimes on Medium this week, about third act twists in our lives. She wrote it in the context of her youngest daughter navigating high school during the pandemic and trying to figure out which path to move forward on after graduation, given that…

April 16 2022 | #ACPDay2022 The unkind truth about ageing is that our social systems are not prepared for the crippling shift that’s underway in our communities, hospitals, and long-term care facilities. In urban centres and rural areas, hospital beds are filled with elderly patients waitlisted for publicly-funded long-term care…

Confronting reality with grace and gumption — To those who know something isn’t right — an inner struggle, a reckoning — but you keep your head held high. To those who have been diagnosed, but have the resilience and courage to march onward. To those who share the journey, who are called to help in unexpected ways and at unexpected times, who hold out their hand and their hearts and say “I’m here, with you.”

It’s ok to feel sad during the holidays — Feeling overwhelmed? Sad? Lonely in the crowd? It’s ok if the holidays are less than joyful. You are not alone. In the spirit of Charlie Brown and his perfectly imperfect Christmas tree, I wish you good grief. Charles’ Schultz’s cartoon character Charlie Brown is such an icon, but I remember…

Dementia might test your patience the most on the “good days” It was in so many ways a nondescript day. Dad was up at 8, dressed, bed made, sitting quietly on the couch when I went up. He said good morning with his usual enthusiasm and happily said he’d get…