Caregivers can feel guilty that their family member or friend can’t golf 18 holes, or garden the back 40 anymore.
Don’t let guilt stop the creativity.
Go to the restaurant at the club and tell the best golfing stories you have. Bring a bowl of tomatoes onto the screened-in porch, or the dining room table. Notice, adjust, and explore.
Once a group of men who played golf together for years noticed one friend fading energetically. Eventually he received the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s. His friends adjusted. They played 10 holes, then 5, and ended up on the bench, swinging clubs, describing the holes-in-one stories. Beautiful.
A friend of mine brought her mother into the kitchen while she prepared supper, bringing in fresh vegetables from the garden. She sometimes put on The Cooking Channel. By the time they served up at the table, her mom believed she had made supper herself. Let her believe.
Let your creativity get the better of you. Give yourself the widest possibilities for delight today. If you need to, pop over to the grocer’s and buy some tomatoes to go with the gardening stories. They’ll taste just as good, and the story from long ago will come to life today.
Take care, and stay in touch,
Tryn Rose Seley,
Author, 15 Minutes of Fame: One Photo Does Wonders To Bring You Both Back to Solid Ground at www.caregiverheart.comPurchase PDF version of 15 Minutes of Fame
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