Treading Dark Waters - a Column by Ray Burow

We’re barely into the summer months, and temperatures across the United States are soaring. Heat is expected to intensify as we get deeper into the season, with U.S. temperatures surpassing those of 2023 by at least 2 degrees. Translation: It’s hot, it’s going to stay hot, and rising temperatures…

With its graduations and awards ceremonies, the end of the school year is a complicated season for sandwich generation caregivers, who must provide care for a loved one with Alzheimer’s disease or another life-altering condition while simultaneously raising their kids. These carers face an emotional battle because they’re constantly…

Today, I am cancer-free, but five years ago, I was diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent chemotherapy. Five years prior, my sister had been diagnosed with the same disease and received the same treatment. She is also cancer-free now, by the grace of God. This may seem odd,…

My mother passed away from Alzheimer’s disease 11 years after her diagnosis, and my father died six years before my mom. His passing was an excruciating loss for our family. At that point, my mother was in the early to middle stages of Alzheimer’s but otherwise healthy.

“It always seems impossible until it’s done.” — often attributed to Nelson Mandela Just hearing the words “diagnosed with dementia” is a slap across the face and a dagger through the heart. Still, when my mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, caregiving was the furthest thing from my mind.

Caregiving is hard work. It’s physically demanding, emotionally straining, and constant. According to the Alzheimer’s Association, the majority of caregivers in the United States are women, and daughters make up one-third of dementia caregivers. The website also notes, “Caregivers of people with dementia report providing 27 hours…

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was…

On a recent shopping trip, I saw an older woman walking through the parking lot. She appeared to struggle as she maneuvered her metal walker, which wasn’t fancy or new. The lady had to lift it and take a step to advance. Lift and step. As she got deeper into…

We’re a whole week into 2024 already, and is it just me, or is the year passing by quickly from the start? Regardless, 11 months are stretched out before us, and we don’t know exactly what they’ll bring. If you’ve been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease or are the…

The Advent season of the Christian calendar is now in full swing. Each of the season’s four Sundays connects the arrival of Jesus to a tenet of Christianity: hope, peace, joy, and love or faith, depending on a specific congregation’s tradition. We typically celebrate these words by reading…