Categories
Alzheimer's Disease and Dementia Faith Motherhood and Parenting

It Is Well with My Soul: Two Years Later

I struggle with contentment.  I’m a perfectionist, firstborn, type A, always looking for something better, worried about the future, and a slave to my own expectations. The week of my mother’s death was much more difficult than I had anticipated.  I was just sure that after years of watching my mother suffer and decline in […]

Categories
Faith Motherhood and Parenting

Choosing Joy: 10 Ways to Bring Sunshine to Your Soul

I have struggled with depression, anxiety and even panic attacks since adolescence. Some of this has been hormonal, some has been situational.  My mental health affects my physical health, zapping my energy, my appetite and my immune system, and I end up plagued by weight loss, frequent illness and chronic sinusitis. And, inevitably, it affects my marriage and my […]

Categories
Alzheimer's Disease and Dementia Faith Marriage Motherhood and Parenting

2014: Learning to Live Courageously

Often, on New Year’s Eve, I publish a post filled with photos and happenings from the past year.  (Here are the posts from 2012 and 2013.) A look back at last year I’ve been putting off the 2014 post because it is difficult to write.  Earlier today, I re-read the Bible verse for the 2014-2015 Mothers of Preschoolers (MOPS) […]

Categories
Alzheimer's Disease and Dementia Motherhood and Parenting

Dear Mom: I Remember Us

Dear Mom, Your oldest granddaughter loves grape-flavored lip balm. I would never buy grape-flavored anything but the lip balm came in a trial beauty box subscription. The smell always makes me think of Dimetapp.  I remember you making me take it whenever I had a cold, even though I hated the flavor. I remember you taking care […]

Categories
Alzheimer's Disease and Dementia Faith

Brain Food: Spring Clean Your Diet

I’m wrapping up National Nutrition Month with a brain food post that is several years in the making.  My relationship with food and health shifted dramatically following my mother’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis. Disclaimer:  I am not a medical doctor and cannot give medical advice.  I am simply a health enthusiast, sharing what I have learned about […]