I invite you to log onto the home page - www.thealzheimerspouse.com - and read my 2014 Thanksgiving Notice. After you read what I have written and what I am thankful for, please count your blessings here, and share with us what you are thankful for - in spite of the damage Alzheimer's Disease has done to our lives.
I really have so much to be thankful for. This group is one, I could not have made it through this without you all. The other big thankful, a good friend of mine suffered a stroke two months ago. At the time they did not think she would make it. As the doctor said last week she had nine toes in the grave. Two days ago she was on her feet and taking steps. Each week a new milestone is made. Yes, I am thankful for how far she has come. Still so far to go, but well on her way. For the first time in years I feel that I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. I am coming out of the fog and ready to find my place in this new life. I am sorry my DH is gone, I will always miss him. I need to remember to live my life now,it would be a waste not to.
Happy Thanksgiving, please know you all are in my prayers.
I am especially grateful for this group. It has helped me to get this far on my journey. I am also grateful for friends I have met along the way who support me in sometimes small but significant ways. I am so grateful that he is placed and well taken care of. May each and everyone who subscribes to this website have a blessed holiday and may we look forward in a positive way to the coming year even though we do not know what life may bring.
I am mostly grateful for this group--kind, supportive people full of warmth and common sense…the survivors in the lifeboat…and to dear, wonderful Joan who started this website. Past that, for being holed up warm and snug with perhaps a small alcoholic libation,plenty of food, some good old movies on the DVD player, some good books loaded up on the Kindle, and with some kind friends to be snow-bound with, and several family to visit with (once I can get there.) Were they all here for me during the bad old Alzheimer's days? No, they were not. But at this point, I'm just going to take what I can get, and make the most of it. But I'm different now--not so naive and trusting--no longer believing that friends and family will be there for me if needed. I have a healthy skepticism now…or maybe not so healthy…I don't know. But for now, I'm just going to enjoy the three cats who live in this big old house I'm visiting,socialize with whoever's around, and enjoy the moments. Happy Thanksgiving to all.
I’m thankful for my husband, whose optimism, sense of humor, and love for me made me happy for so many years. I’m thankful for the excellent care he receives at the veteran’s home, and for the fact that he is actually happy there. I’m thankful that his VA benefits paid for daycare, which allowed me to earn a living during those awful years. Tomorrow I will join 15 other wives for Thanksgiving dinner with our husbands in the Secure Dementia Unit. Not what I would previously have thought of as fun but as long as he is having a good time, I will be, too.
And of course, I’m thankful for this group. I first signed on because I needed specific advice about how to introduce my husband to LTC but over all these months I have gained so much more from all of you. Thank you
I've been blessed beyond what I hoped for and even though I'm entering The Big Empty which is my description of the full new life I haven't found yet; I also haven't been looking for one nor was I in any mental or emotional state to do that. The blessing is that I feel like myself as we approach her release from this and I know that our suffering once her journey started was really two friends sticking together as the life that was came apart.
We fought well and we were true and in the forge of fire the things we were and the times we had did not melt away. Instead they stood all the tests and remain fabulous. And before her mortal coil passes into that gentle goodnight I'm all packed and ready to go.
I have been blessed so much that I ask that blessings for me be stopped and instead given to the deserving here. Which is every one of you.
I ask that every person here be allowed to feel what I am allowed to feel which is that life is fantastic. We were never short changed and Dianne's story was this and not only wouldn't I trade it, but I'm privileged and when all is said and done that is simply how I feel. All debts are paid, all sins are forgiven, my Dianne cookie jar is empty except for a few crumbs, and I am quite literally going to do whatever I want as long as I can.
I am thankful to have my 2 daughters, my handicapped son and 2 grandchildren (teens) to spend the next 2 days with. I also received a call today from a gentleman who lost his wife 7 years ago. We have been friends for 50 years. He asked how I was doing and I said "pretty well" and then said "very well but I have my moments" . He was happy to hear that I seem to be doing well and said that even after 7 years, he has his moments too.
This site was my savior during the last 2+ years. I am so thankful that I could find other people who had gone through the same issues that I was dealing with at the various stages of his disease. Thank you Joan and thank you to all of the members of this group.
I am thankful to have found this site. It was my saving grace when I finally admitted to myself that Frank did indeed have dementia and there would be no happy ending. I feel like others who post are friends and I read occasionally now to see how they're doing. Thanks again, dear Joan and may God bless you.
Since my sister must live in long term care and is unable to walk or dress herself and must have help for the necessities which come at the pleasure of someone else; I'm most thankful that I can get up when I want, take a shower, dress myself in clothes of my choosing and eat breakfast also my choice. What I have taken for granted can so quickly be taken away when health fails.
My wish is that everyone who reads here have a blessed day and enjoy every moment.
I too am thankful for this site. I am thankful that our oldest daughter her husband and our grandson are here for thanksgiving. I am thankful that our youngest daughter is seeking help for her eating disorder, has a very supportive husband. They will be home for Christmas. Even though my DH is progressing, that I have the means to have help from in home care and my family support. I am thankful for my dad, who had open heart surgery 4 weeks ago, is doing well. A small set back today, my mom is on top of his care. I am thankful for my 2 sisters who are always there to listen and encourage me. I am thankful!
So thankful for Jesus Christ who literally carries me when I am too broken to do it on my own. My 2 amazing kids and 4 grandkids who have been so supportive and such a joy. My best friend who is always there for me and didn't abandon us. Most recently, I found out yesterday that my long application process for Medicaid has been approved and I am going to be able to survive financially. I retired at age 53 to care for him so I am still 10 years away from drawing my SS and can't even pull from my retirement funds for another 2 1/2 yrs without a stiff penalty. The news was so comforting and such a blessing. Just so relieved to have the whole process done! Joan, this site has been such a source of encouragement and support. I am so thankful to you for taking the time out from your own caregiving hardships and reaching out to all of us. This forum has been a God send! Thank you!!! And Wolf, I love the words "big empty". Although I have much to be thankful for...and I truly am...I still feel a big empty around here without him. Relieved to be free of the 24/7 responsibility. Thankful for the staff that now shares that load with me. But still the dark abyss of the big empty! Love and wishes for a blessed day to each of you.
I am thankful for the shelter, food and clothing that I have. Those things sustain me physically. I am thankful for the support I have from DS and DD. I am profoundly thankful for Joan and all of my friends here. You sustain me mentally. I am thankful for your kindness, understanding and support that you have given me. I am thankful for all the ((Hugs)) I was given when I needed them most. Happy Thanksgiving to all of my dear friends in the USA and belated Happy Thanksgiving to all my Canadian friends. Hope everyone has an enjoyable day.
About a year ago, I started listing out loud before I get out of bed what I am grateful for. That helps me keep focused that there still is much joy and so much to be thankful for even though the dark cloud of dementia surrounds me.
I am very thankful for this site. Thank you Joan for starting it and keeping it going. Thank you to everyone who also keeps it going. I have written a million times I would not have survived without alzheimerspouse.com
Today, I am thankful to be alive. Each morning when I wake I say, "Yes! Still here. How awesome is that."
I am thankful for the woodpecker on the suet feeder outside, the sun shining on me as I type, my cats sleeping near, the fire on, my grand daughters, and the supports I have in place for my husband to have the best quality of life possible.
I amso thankful to Joan for this very helpful site.I am also thankful for God's help in showing me how to do the best for my DH.Thankful for my wonderful neighbors and their help.And that I have enough to live comfortably.And my dog,Scoobi and my nine(oops now eleven) cats(the greatest stress buster ever).
I am thankful for all of you & your honesty & wisdom. I am thankful for a warm, cozy home - nothing elaborate, but very adequate. I am thankful for two wonderful sons who love & respect me, especially when their father no longer can.... I am thankful for my wonderful cousin, who looks out for me & is taking me to a Christmas musical production in December! I am blessed probably more than I deserve, considering how poor my attitude can be at times.
I am thankful & grateful to God who provides the strength & grace I need daily. Happy Thanksgiving to all! :)
I am thankful for family and friends and people I'd not met before Thanksgiving Day dinner at my house. 42 people came and shared food, fun and friendship. I only provided 2 turkeys, the house and set-ups. I'm thankful for the garbage bags that sat by my country lane ready for pick-up because they indicate we weren't hungry.
I'm thankful I was able to donate several bags of clothing to the local thrift store, indicating I have sufficient.
This blog has been a blessing, too. Thank you, Joan. I read it from time to time now, but the immediate helpful suggestions stopped being my reason for reading a couple years ago.
Although I am living under the dark shadow of Alzheimer's with my husband of 44 yrs. I am very thankful to my lord and savior. He sustains me through it all. He is with me and lifts me when i am downtrodden.I still feel I have many happy moments to live and to laugh. I am thankful for the years I have had my husband with me, I'm thankful for my children and grandchildren. They are such a blessing. I'm thankful for my sister and brothers and other family members. I'm thankful for friends! Oh how they brighten the day. I'm thankful for my church, how I miss wen I can't be there, as my DH can no longer go.i am thankful for my "poor health". It is still such that I can get around on my own. I'm thankful for everything The Lord has blessed me with! I'm thankful for this site! Thank you all for being so informative! And having such good hearts, and compassion! God Bless!
As I sit here, alone, drinking my coffee, in my robe, in my nice warm house, reading again all the comments, I thank God for the blessings of my family, especially my husband and my beautiful daughters, without whom I wouldn't have survived these past eight years. I also might not have been able to get through this horrific journey of dementia without the helpful suggestions from Joan's site. They literally helped me learn how to act when my husband went through his hateful episodes in the beginning. I'm grateful for my health so I'm able to be at my loved one's side every day. I'm grateful for the beauty I'm able to see in this world. I'm grateful I'm able to help others, as well as my own, at the nursing home. I didn't know I had such compassion for those poor people who need someone to just say hi to each and everyone of them, or to spend a little time listening to their questions over and over, a smile, a wave - anything to make them a little happy for awhile. I truly didn't know I had it in me, and I'm grateful for this. I have many blessings, and I'm grateful.
Bev, I'm also surprised that I'm interacting so much with others in my husband's LTC facility. When I walk into the secure dementia unit, I greet the residents who are near me by name and give a big wave to the others, and many of them smile and wave back. When I visit with my husband in the unit, invariably several of the residents approach me to chat, sometimes in gibberish. When we go to the rec room, I often chat with residents who are there on their own. (The facility is not just a NH so there are people of many different levels in the common areas.)
I did not know I had it in me either. I spent a good part of my life visiting NHs -- I come from a long-lived family -- but never interacted with the residents the way I do now. However, I do not think my compassion is new-found. In fact, I think that when I visited family members in the past, my sympathy overwhelmed me and prevented me from being friendly in an ordinary way. Now, I've kind of gotten over my own feelings.