Treading Dark Waters - a Column by Ray Burow

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…

The Christian season of Advent, from the Latin for “coming,” has arrived. Celebrating the coming of Jesus, Advent occurs over the four Sundays preceding Christmas. Many Christian churches set aside these Sundays to focus on the four aspects of Advent — typically hope, love or faith, joy, and…

If you have a loved one who’s been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, what’s the chance that they’ll walk away from the safety of their home? According to the Alzheimer’s Association, anyone with dementia is at risk of wandering. There’s some controversy about the word “wandering” as it…

When someone you love is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, celebrating anything is a challenge. For our family, dementia was an overarching cloud that never cleared up, even during upbeat moments. Yes, we had joyful times with my mother during her bout with Alzheimer’s, but at the same time,…