Treading Dark Waters
— Ray Burow

A wise man once said, “No one by worrying can add one inch to their height.” Constantly worrying about acquiring an admittedly horrible disease may be useless, but it also is common practice for caregivers. Our intimate involvement in the daily processes of a disease, and seeing how it affects…

It helps to have something on the back burner, something to anticipate in the days, weeks, and months ahead. We need something on which to place our concentration, other than COVID-19. Summer solstice is that thing. Not the day so much, but the annual event surrounding it. Alzheimer’s Association Continues…

“As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.” –King Solomon This COVID-19 journey has become a long one. Did any of us have an idea it would go this far? I doubt it, and yet here we are. Some of us might be a little worse for…

Turning our attention away from the all-intrusive pandemic (at least from the primary topics surrounding COVID-19), it’s good to take a minute from the turmoil of the virus to engage with something positive. The continual waves of uncertainty that drive COVID-19 may leave something positive in the disease’s painful…

“Gratitude turns what we have into enough.” — Anonymous If you’re like a lot of people, the COVID-19 pandemic is the first thing that comes to mind when you awaken, and possibly the last penetrating thought before bedtime. Though we tire of its bad news, we can’t turn away. Like…

Caregivers are the first line of defense between their loved ones and, well, everything. Like everyone on the planet, our brains are steeped with thoughts of the coronavirus. It’s our job to stand between our loved ones and the communicable disease, but it’s also our responsibility to keep them from…

Caregivers are on the front line in the fight against the new coronavirus. We aren’t facing it down the same way as medical professionals and researchers are, but we are among the enlisted. Seniors and those with compromised immune systems have a higher risk of contracting COVID-19, according to the…

As it becomes necessary, an elderly person, particularly one diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, may move from one city or state to another. Moving in with a family member or to an assisted living facility is an involved process, and little of it is fun. The death of a spouse further…

“It’s so much darker when a light goes out than it would have been if it had never shone.” — John Steinbeck, “The Winter of Our Discontent” The longer we live, the more loss we experience. It is a natural but uncomfortable part of life. Loss may manifest in diagnosis…

When my children were little, I would ask them to help me with the mundane but necessary tasks that came with everyday living. “Please do the dishes.” “Pick up your toys.” “Don’t forget to make your bed.” At the time, their dimpled, sometimes dirty, and pudgy little hands were far…

Remember when pink and white tissue paper was all you needed for a successful Valentine’s Day? The only thing that was more fun than transforming a shoebox into a colorfully decorated mailbox was the anticipation of how many paper hearts would be stuffed into it by classmates. Valentine’s Day isn’t…

In the early 1900s, Dr. Alois Alzheimer discovered the disease that bears his name today. Alzheimer had observed an unusual disease in one of his patients, a woman in her 50s who had memory loss and was plagued by disorientation and hallucinations, according to Alzheimer’s Disease International. She succumbed…