I say it a lot that we interpret facts and opinions differently based on
many reasons (i.e. that is why we don’t understand each other). Take a look at this pic. We were at Historical Kinnick Stadium watching
the Hawks beat Illinois last Saturday (i.e. a great unique time). It looks like I think it’s the coldest out.
Rookie thinks it’s the warmest, Chet so so (i.e. but maybe most stylish) and
Tom isn’t sure. Hey, it’s 45 degrees on
the thermometer. We all relate to the
fact differently. Good grief! There was an interview over the new public
address system. I asked the ladies
beside me if they understood anything that was said—they said they didn’t
understand one word. I didn’t
neither. Good grief! I said to them—If you and I
didn’t, I would guess the other 65,000 didn’t either. Now that is a fact! Right? Ok, sooooo on the way home going down
the road, Chet had on the post-game call in show. One person said that our IA quarterback had
an outstanding game, another said he was just average, and another said he had
a poor game. They all watched the same
game (i.e. fact) but all had a different opinion. Good grief!
This might not make any sense tooooo you until one day,
bingo, it does. A friend recently told
me—erv, you have changed since you had to deal with Arlene’s Alzheimer’s. What!
I don’t think sooooo. Don’t kid
yourself, you have. How have I
changed. You look at things differently;
it’s noticeable. I wonder if they think
I’m a better person or a worse person. I
have no idea. Maybe a month ago, I read
John Grisham’s book The Guardian.
Mr. Grisham usually has some undertone of God in his books (i.e. very
slight but always some it seems). He
doesn’t preach but…! JoeBlow says—In our
culture today, it seems, like all preaching and nothing practical/applicable is
not accepted very well. ANYWAY, this is
the line he put in his book (i.e. it might be confusing to some of you, but you
might be the recipient someday; you never know; Paul didn’t see it coming either).
Recently
I had some emotional days (i.e. some emotions were because of Arlene’s
situation and some emotions were from some of your situations that you shared
with me). There sure is a lot of hurt in life.
ANYWAY, I sat down in front of the fireplace and was doing some work
when I fell asleep. I slept really hard
for maybe 45 minutes. I felt, oh sooooo
much better when I woke up. It was like
I caught a break. I really felt very good; in fact, I felt way good (i.e. I
knew it wouldn’t last forever sooooo I enjoyed it)! JoeInsite says—We must not allow the clock
and the calendar to blind us to the fact that each moment of life is a miracle
and mystery.
CadillacJack says--Give folks a break! You need to give about 10 praises
for every negative remark you give. Why? Because the negative is what folks
remember. If you were to get 10 compliments and one criticism, which one would
you go home and remember? If a business person gets 9 cards that say, “Thanks
for doing such a good job for me; you really helped me out a lot” and one card that
says, “You’re off the wall!” which one do you think the business person dwells
on the most? My Mom, Anna, would say to
me—erv, if you can’t say something good, don’t say anything. I think she was
saying—give someone a break! PositiveFred says--You’ve got tooooo overemphasize
the positive, because you inevitably have to deal with the negative. MissPerfect
(i.e. is medium—sooooo called ‘cause she is neither rare nor well done) says--I’m
really not very good doing that; I like to say negative things toooo folks
soooo I can make myself look better! SusieQ says—All this might be right for
most folks except my sister-in-law who has an ego the size of a hot air
balloon; she doesn’t need any more positive stuff (i.e. her head can’t get any
bigger or she won’t get her head through the door for the family Christmas
gathering). She can really strut her stuff alright! A friend and I went to a UNI basketball game
the other night. You don’t need to have
a big head; you can just borrow one!
Some of you maybe might think you just caught a break after thinking
about trying the following stuff maybe and others of you might think this idea
is a bunch of hooey. ANYWAY,
OneSmartPerson says—"When you wake up, instead of checking emails on your
phone, or counting your retweets, pick up a pen and scratch a few sentences
into a notebook.” Hey, listen folks,
it’s way different to write something down than just thinking it. It’s really special. My opinion.
Now that I’m home alone I pray out loud. It’s a real different sensation
that is amazing; special (i.e. it’s real different saying it out loud than
thinking it silently). I suggest you try
it. Like I said, some of you will think
this is just a bunch of rubbish and others will think you just caught a break! Such is life.
It’s that time of the year which there are family
gatherings, social events, parties etc.
A fun time for such things. For
some of you, it’s a fun time and others of you, it’s a time of misery; you hate
these parties. It can be a lot of good
food and conversation. Sooooo how do we
know if we are a weird person that folks would rather not invite. Like we are over opinionated, always think we
are right, toooo chatty, have philosophical arguments about nothing, dominate
the conversations, irritating, rude, drink toooo much, eat tooooo much, are
just plain obnoxious? GeorgeTheCrook
says--Surely not me! My wife, maybe, but
not me! C’mon, most families and offices
have such a person. BUT how do we decide
if we are that person? Are we the person when we don’t show up, folks think
they caught a break! A friend and I were
talking about two university basketball coaches. He said a person who knows both coaches told
him—One coach the more folks are around him the more folks don’t want to be
around him and the other coach, the more folks are around him the more they
want to be around him. Huh, interesting.
A senior friend called me and asked if I would visit with
her—of course—soooo we visited for an hour.
She wanted me to make a decision for her—I didn’t. I listened to her (i.e. she has told me this
before sooooo I was familiar with what was going on). I told her—There is a good chance that
something will happen before you have to make your decision (i.e. the deadline)
which will make your decision for you; you won’t have a decision to make. If not, you probably already have your
decision made but you want assurance that it is the correct one. In your case, there is no correct or wrong
decision. What every decision you make
will be the right decision for you. And
even at that, if you want to redo your decision later, you have that decision
(i.e. nothing hurt). You will be
fine! It is very questionable if she
caught a break from me!!!! haha
I have been in several support groups of
Alzheimer’s caregivers both at home and in AZ.
I have heard this question many times—Is it ok for me to pray that my
loved one would die? It’s what they want.
The disease is just going to get worse and more misery for
everyone. If we are Christians, we
believe that heaven is really going to be great. Sooooo why not God, just let them die. It would be a break for everyone. I was communicating with a friend whose
husband is pretty bad. We both think
that death would be a blessing for everyone.
She did say to me—erv, a couple of his siblings talked to me and they
are supportive and concerned about me; it was nice to hear that. You other caregivers
know that was a break for her (i.e. she really appreciated and needed that).
The other night our neighbor came over with their new little
girl and a loaf of banana bread. We
talked for quite some time. I enjoy
visiting with her. She is very
refreshing. After she left, I thought, I
just caught a break. She was uplifting
to me. She was like a cheerleader; she
sorta kinda cheered me on even though she didn’t maybe know it or maybe she
did; I don’t know. That is what
cheerleaders do. Saturday question—Are
you and I cheerleaders? She told me that their little boy spent some time with
his boy cousins this last summer. He got
banged around pretty good which made him a lot tougher. Have you ever got banged around and got a lot
tougher? Maybe caught a break!
Magic (i.e. that is what I call her as she is sooooo good with
the memory unit residents) was leaving and soooo was I. Magic sings and plays
her guitar I think once a week. She said
she had to stop and see Arlene for a second.
I had to talk to the resident assistant.
We then met again when both were leaving. She told me that she got a huge
smile from Arlene. Then she sang
Edelweiss as she knows Arlene likes the Sound of Music. Then she
said--Alzheimer’s sucks! Then she said--This
might sound corny but when I can make the life of dementia residents a little
better, I feel the closest to God.
Magic, you are blessed to be a blessing!
Have FUN day my friends unless you have other plans. (-:
erv
MyFriendJean says—Ability is important, but dependability is
critical.
P.S. About once a year, goggle redoes their security of bulk
emailing. It is to protect the public,
but it causes problems for my mailings of “It’s Saturday.” Generally, they work out the bugs or I learn
how to adjust over some time. ANYWAY,
please check your spam and also you may bookmark the link and check for new
“It’s Saturday” each Saturday morning. I
will try to get it working smooth again.
Sorry! We got to take the bad with the good. Such is life.
No comments:
Post a Comment