Steven Sabat gave a presentation about being a friend to someone with Alzheimer’s disease, and said in the face of dementia, people just don’t know what to do (or say), and I think this applies to other illnesses or crises too. This is why they ‘disappear’, not because they are bad people or don’t love … Continue reading »
Posted in May 2012 …
Dementia, denial, old age and dying
“When it comes time to die, be not like those whose hearts are filled with the fear of death. Sing your death song, and die like a hero going home.” – Chief Aupumut (1725), Mohican. My dear husband has worked it out, that is, why I occasionally re-blog or add interesting articles found on the … Continue reading »
RIP Peter Watt (Dad) 1934 – 2012
Dad died peacefully this morning, whilst my dear husband was in transit on his way to be with him. Obviously we cannot predict when death is going to come knocking at our door, or that of someone we love, and we have to forgive ourselves if we are not ‘there’ for them. My husband has been … Continue reading »
The end is nigh…
This last week I have been in Wellington in New Zealand, completely focused on learning about dementia. Whilst I’ve been here a lady called Dotty from the global dementia community who I had been following through her son Bob De Marco’s blog The Alzheimer’s Reading Room died. I cried, even though I did not know … Continue reading »
How smart are Smartphones?
Today I read an article in the weekend paper in New Zealand about something called iGuilt. I had not heard of iGuilt; maybe I have seen iAnger having previously been mildly addicted to using technology, but not guilt! This addiction was relatively short-term, and occurred when I upgraded my phone to an Android version of … Continue reading »
RIP Dotty
As the global world of dementia support grows, I have been following the journey and decline of Dotty and her son Bob DeMarco, who has given the world daily insights into their world of love and loss. The Alzheimer’s Reading Room also offers information about research, technology, Apps to help with brain training and memory … Continue reading »
Dr Steven Sabat Reveals the Person behind the disease.
Yesterday I had the great privilege and honour of meeting with Dr Steven Sabat, not just a Professor at Georgetown University, Department of Psychology or renowned academic, but to me a very inspirational dementia care advocate. He presented at the Alzheimer’s Australia national conference in Brisbane last year where I also heard him speak and … Continue reading »
Backbacks, hotels and other rants!
We visited an art gallery in Wellington the other day, and had to leave our backpack at the desk. This is usual, but this time, the delightful young woman and I had a minor rant about backpacks, after she mentioned why. It is because most people wearing backpacks give absolutely no consideration to those behind … Continue reading »
‘I love you’
The following was sent to me some time ago via email from a wonderful friend who lives in Queensland (Thank you VG xox), and as my day has fallen to pieces with regards to finding the time to write something original, and I believe in and love the sentiments, I wanted to share it with … Continue reading »
Dementia, blogging, reading and a terminal illness
I’m in the process of setting up a blog roll of other blogs and websites that are interesting and useful, and am constantly coming across new posts or blogs I want to read, and then share. Today is one of those days as I want to share two (well, really a few) posts (the first … Continue reading »
Driving, dementia and the elderly: A risky business
This is without, a very contentious and hot topic. I recently heard someone with dementia, who is also over 65, state they were going to get a copy of their car key made to hide somewhere, so that when the keys were taken away because they could no longer drive, they would still have a key … Continue reading »
TED talk: Simon Sinek on Leadership
I’m having a lazy day and have no idea what to blog about, but this morning I received a link to this TED talk, and although I used to run Leadership workshops, his concept of leadership is unique and inspiring. It is timely for me, as speaking out about dementia is happening around the world … Continue reading »
The global dementia blogging community
In October 2011, someone wrote to me via email, and mentioned I must be thrilled to have 16 followers. I had no idea where my blog was heading, as now I have 319 comments on my Conversations and Recipes page, have written and published 290 posts, of which there has been over 1200 comments. As … Continue reading »
What makes a successful team or support group?
It could be said the greatest predictor of a team’s future success is how people feel about each other. I’ve been volunteering on various committees lately, some of which are unbelievably cohesive and where all members respond to the workload and prepare for their meetings and tasks involved, and then I’ve had contact or involvement … Continue reading »
Just do it!
It has been said, the average worker has 50 interruptions a day, of which 70% have nothing to do with work. If your productivity (work or study) is suffering from regular distractions, you could try a few things such as avoiding eye contact when someone walks by your desk. Whilst this may deter chatty colleagues … Continue reading »
