The many words used when a person first makes it public knowledge They have been diagnosed with dementia are words like #brave #courageous #inspiring Then, if we dare to live too positively with it We are told we don’t look like we have dementia. The only thing really needing true grit, bravery and courage Is…
A wonderful lunch to celebrate turning 60 With my immediate family And my very special friends and chosen family I love you ALL Missing some special friends and family Some unable to be there So many no longer with us My actual birthday, the anniversary of a friends husbands death The death of a…
A wintery Wednesday from my window Looks to cold for the beach Or a day out wandering through the hills Seems easier to sit in my office To push ‘my little grey cells’ Just enough to think And to type this poem!
Days alone with dementia Laughter and love Tragedy and sadness Memory loss Playing cards alone Grief, tears, shock Humiliation and stigma Dancing Daring Keeping secrets Engagement and inspiration Hysterical and life changing Moments lost in time
A sense of loneliness So deep It takes my breath away Reminding me of those departed Lingering inside my heart Lost to the stigma of dementia Tales of despair Whisperings of days gone by Deteriorating abilities Sadness sitting just inside my soul Yearning for my loss of self Footnote: Through this blog, and other social…
Golden sand and rolling waves Gentle white caps Serene and peaceful No sign of the waves of tomorrow Waves that shoot for the sky Tossing surfers and surf boards Into the depths of currents Downwards Into sand and seaweed Signs of golden sand And rolling waves All but forgotten
Day 28: Dementia Awareness Month 2014 Our dreams are stolen By the world of dementia One by one they go With losses so great So many hidden from you We must cry alone So small yet so sad Tragic incremental deaths Of all our functions One day they are there The next…
Day 20: Dementia Awareness Month 2014 Dementia and me What the hell happened to my brain diagnosed with dementia when I was much too young my children still at school a deadly terminal disease effecting memory, thinking, perception, judgment, language and speech But worse than that, effecting my life, family, friendships, my sense of self,…
In my first volume of poetry, Love, Life, Loss, A Roller-coaster of Poetry, I wrote a poem called disAbled, which also appears on my poetry page of this website. A new friend I met at ADI in London this year living with dementia asked if she could read it out to a group she meets with in…
Lately I have connected with many blogs of writers and poets, and read their stories and poems with awe. Some of them also write about how they have always wanted to write, always wanted to be a writer, which I connect strongly with too. As a child I was a prolific reader, reading up to 4 -5 books each…
On today’s blog I have added a beautiful poem I was privileged to read some time ago, already shared on my Conversations and Recipes Page, but I felt worthy of adding here. It was written by someone called Anna Pye, and sprang from a community project in Adelaide called The Cosy Club inspired by a…
I want my writing, poetry and blogs to improve, to be something more, and I find it so easy to be my own worst critic. This fact can often make it easy to accept feedback more negatively or personally than it is meant. Since travelling, there has not been enough time to think and take…
A poet can survive everything but a misprint (Oscar Wilde). Oh my gosh, I am really feeling that at the moment. My poetry book is almost out, ready for sale and I am terrified of a misprint, or that I won’t like it! I used to feel like that when lodging my university assignments on Assign…
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…
