The following is from an email I received yesterday. It is a wonderful poem about life and ageing, and tells its story with great clarity. It is about respecting and valuing our elders, and simply says I’m not just a cranky old man (or woman). “When an old man died in the geriatric ward of a nursing home in an Australian country town,…
Today I wanted to honour another person who I am privileged to have met and can call my friend, who is also living positively with dementia. Christine Bryden is an amazing woman, diagnosed age 46 with dementia (she is now 63), who is still advocating publicly for people living with or caring for people with dementia. She…
It is Sunday again, which is either the end of a week, or the beginning of a new one, depending on who you ask. This small debate is often held in my house, as we all have a different opinion, but thankfully the sweating of this type of small stuff is generally only done in…
…the closer it gets to the end, the faster it goes.” I don’t know who that quote comes from, but I really wish it was me! Life definitely is like that, and finding ways to stay focused on really living and thinking deeply is always a bit of a challenge, as life often gets in…
My office is now the one place I feel really safe all of the time and is where I absolutely positively love to hang out. Who would ever have thought that could or would ever have been the case, particularly as the last few years it was where I worked?! It has become a safe…
I have been known to speak out occasionally (!!), and after watching this wonderful video of Dr Abraham Verghese’s speech A doctor’s touch at a TED event, I decided to join TED myself and set up the following conversation Is it humane to use physical or pharmacological restraint in the infirmed, dementia or aged care…
“When an older person dies, a library burns.” (African proverb) I have always had an affinity with people who are much older and much younger than me. This is partly due to the fact I often didn’t feel like I fitted in with people my own age. My musical tastes were not in keeping with my…
Some of my wonderful blog followers have nominated me for the Versatile Blogger and the Liebster Awards. Unfortunately I can’t find their blogs or replies on my blog to confirm them, thank them, or work out how to add them to my blog!! However I would like to salute a few of the blogs I like…
Martin Seligman: building a flourishing state World leading psychologist and expert adviser on wellbeing at the highest level of international public policy, Dr Martin Seligman, will join forces with partners from government, business and community to drive action on wellbeing and resilience for the citizens of South Australia. Dr Seligman will be here in Adelaide…
The following is a précis of a sentence in a recent email sent to all Script Frenzy writers, received from the new Executive Director of the Office of Letters and Light, Grant Faulkner: Writing at its most fundamental is about connecting, so I look forward to connecting with you (online, coffee groups, parties, etc) through…
John Irving wrote “He wished he understood what made him so restless. Then it occurred to him that he was actually at peace with himself for the first time in his life. He realised how much he had been anticipating peace some day, but the feeling was not what he expected. He used to think…
I just love this! Perhaps I am a Lion after all, it is just that I have to see myself that way. Being brave and courageous and protecting others is a tall order, but it is worth the effort of trying. As I reach out to try to improve services for those people who are elderly,…
I strongly believe dementia could be better managed with non-pharmacological interventions used to promote individually perceived wellness and happiness. Often with no treatment options, and the realisation it is a terminal illness, it is a difficult disease to understand. However to accept it as a disease with disabilities to be managed, rather than symptoms contributing…
Since I’ve joined the wider global community through online networking and blogging, and since speaking at the Alzheimer’s Australia National Fight Dementia campaign rally and appearing on the ABC TV 7.30 Report, I am gathering many new friends, people who have seen my story and want to follow or be with me in some way…
This blog is dedicated to my other ‘sons’! As my children have grown up, through my food business, and since blogging, I have a few more ‘sons’. One young man who ‘adopted’ us as his real family some years ago (he had school holidays with us a lot); he brought up the self designed ‘paperwork…
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