Random Thoughts

Perhaps the only thing better than an actual quilt that you can curl up under would be a picture of a quilt that you can curl up under, or see close up. Perhaps the only thing better than a pictures of a quilt would be a whole book of pictures. Even better than that would be receiving that book via snail mail from an Internet friend you've never met, but thought of you because she knows the subject hits very close to home. Many thanks to Diane Auser Stefan from Arkansas for knowing how much this book would mean to me. Alzheimer's Forgetting Piece by Piece is a collection of pictures and stories by 54 quilt makers who have been affected by the ALZ. The quilts were originally made for a traveling exhibit to "draw us close to a difficult subject so we can understand, become more compassionate and ultimately use our own talents to effect change."* "The idea for what would become the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative," writes, Ami Simms, founder of A...

"I'm Still Here" A New Philosophy of Alzheimer's Disease. This book arrived in today's mail. Paging through I found this statement by John Zeisel, Ph, D., the author. "The people living with Alzheimer's disease have inspired me to stay in this field. The way this illness affects the brain leaves most of them exceptionally perceptive, increasingly creative, and highly emotionally intelligent for years" So it appears there is a period of heightened brain activity for some years before the decline in abilities. This means the perceptions gleaned from certain TV shows and movies are inaccurate. This does not mean people with Alzheimer's don't have memory lapses or forget things, but those incidents are a smaller percentage than we might have been lead to believe. Rather than having one foot in the grave, and the other on a banana peel, I can look forward to a long time of heightened perception, increased creativity, and highly emotional in...

A few weeks ago, in a time that will forever be known as Before ALZ, Sweetie and I decided once and for all (or 24 hours) that selling, downsizing and moving was the right thing to do. A realtor friend helped us find some comparable prices for our house and parted with these words. "I'll come back when you've de-cluttered." She might have said, "send me a picture from the top of Mt. Everest." Don't get me wrong, we're not hoarders, even though one of us does like to pack things into closets in a style closer to Fibber McGee than Martha Stewart, and one of us likes to stack up things up in Jenga-like fashion. Woe to the person who wants something on the bottom of the pile.  My father used to complain (what's new!) about the way I covered every flat surface in the house with stuff.  It used to be that my mind was organized, even if my living space wasn't. I don't think I can say that anymore.  After the realtor left Sweetie and I went thr...

I love listening to NPR when I'm driving around town. I like Talk of the Nation (if it's not too politically oriented) and Fresh Air during the week. And really like whatever the show is on Saturday afternoons where people read their stories. There is an inherent problem with listening while running errands because I often only get the beginning or end of a story. If I'm really hooked I've been known to sit in a parking lot or the garage until it's finished. Another problem is wanting to take notes while driving - not advisable. I have to rely on my memory until I get to a stopping place and dig a pen from the bottom of my purse and a receipt or old napkin to write on. Relying on my memory is not the best way to get key pieces of information down on paper. So yesterday  on Talk of the Nation there was a discussion about an exhibit currently at the Library of Congress called the Books That Shaped America. The goal of the exhibit is to "spark a national convers...

When my kids were very little, the excitement leading up to unwrapping Christmas presents grew with each passing day. My then husband was every bit as much a child as the kids. He liked to count the number of packages with his name on them. He liked to rattle and shake and try to figure out what was in each present that I had wrapped to look like something from a Hallmark commercial. I admit it drove me crazy. In my family of origin Christmases there was a no touching rule. There was also a nothing gets opened before Christmas rule which I tried to hold on to but was out-voted 3-1. Trying to contain all the real surprises for Christmas morning, I usually allowed one present, to be picked out by me, to be opened on Christmas Eve - cute flannel pajamas that would look good in photos the next morning. One year I made the mistake of letting the kids pick out the gift they wanted to open. I think Johnson must have just grabbed the first thing that he saw and been happy with it. Weneki car...

"I don't think you ever stop giving. I really don't. I think it's an on-going process. And it's not just about being able to write a check. It's being able to touch somebody's life." Oprah Winfrey Le Chat Noir Writers Circle @ the Sulzbacher Center Here we are at the end of NaBloPoMo. As I look back to the beginning, I think I may have gotten off track a little here and there, but kept writing nonetheless. There are several other people who bring me joy that I didn't write about. Like Akasa Wolfsong ; Stephanie Darnell , Maithri Goonetilleke , and Queen Dani . Each of them in their own way have shared their truths with me. They have lifted me up when I was down, given me hope and often made me laugh. It's possible that my old friend "grief" has been a common thread in our blog relationships. Each of these big-hearted bloggers has offered his/her own personal grief journey to make a difference for themselves and others. I, for one, h...

"Seventy-six trombones led the big parade With a hundred and ten cornets right behind ..." Seventy Six Trombones from The Music Man Can you hear it? Can you hear me tooting my own horn like a whole brass band? Today I received my first royalty check for "Saying Goodbye." (See sidebar). It wasn't a large check, only $ 10.79, but it lifted my spirits pretty high off the ground. I am now, whether I want to claim it or not, a writer ... a paid writer. How cool is that? An interesting note came in the email that announced my earnings. Saying Goodbye is being used in a course on "The Psychology of Grief" at the College of Idaho. The anthology has received praise from reviewers and other readers, and it is being used in the classroom at the College of Idaho as part of a course on “The Psychology of Grief.” Here's what Professor Jan Adams had to say: “This is a book that meets a need for teachers of death and dying classes. Most of the books currently ava...

"No day is so bad it can't be fixed with a nap." Carrie Snow Here we are half-way through the month of May and I'm still not finished with April's ABC project. There was a time in my life when I truly believed that I was not only self-motivated, but that I could take down an octopus when it came to a multi-tasking contest. Ha! Those were the days my friend. Today, as you have sadly noted, I'm more of a starter than a finisher. In this case, I have a wee bit of an excuse. About the time I was going to write my last alphabet post, we had another medical emergency that led to four days in the hospital. The last time I kept bedside watch I was able to pick up wireless signals and maintain my finally honed writing schedule. Alas, while the hospital is undergoing a management change, there is no computer service for guests. (Hospital guests! Like people go to there for a vacation, perhaps expecting chocolates on their pillow instead of IV fluids hanging from a bag...

"You will achieve grand dream, a day at a time, so set goals for each day/not long and difficult projects, but chores that will take you, step by step toward your rainbow." Og Mandino (American Essayist and Psychologist) If removing every book, wiping away any residue of cat urine, rubbing a dressing of orange smelling oil into parched wood, and tossing out books that no longer seem relevant to my life puts me on the way to my rainbow, then boys and girls, I think I'm seeing color just over the horizon. Woohoo! There is a lesson to be learned in the fact that without even meaning to I discovered the stinky remains of my black cat's inability to find the litter box. Just think how many days, months, years (?) might have passed by without me giving the bookshelves in question a good going over. The chore itself has been kind of a pain in the ass, but I feel good about finishing the job. I especially like getting reacquainted with some old friends. And here's the kic...

"In the Koran, the first thing God said to Muhammad was `Read,' " Alia Muhammad Baker New York Times, July 27, 2003* It's funny how things happen. I was at Barnes and Noble the other day doing research for some upcoming posts. It's not that I fancy myself a "real" journalist so much as I was curious about the number of ABC books there are in the world. To my surprise and amazement there are many. In fact, there is a whole website dedicated to this most basic of primers. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE ABC books. I can't tell you why. I just know I do. If I had a library in my house - you know, one of those big rooms you see in rich people's homes, lined with bookcases, with comfortable leather furniture, a big cherry-finished desk and fresh flowers on the table next to the window where a light breeze gently moves the sheer curtains - I'd have a whole section set aside for ABC books. But, as often happens, I digress. While crawling around on the floor che...

"One of the advantages of being disorderly is that one is contantly making exciting discoveries." A.A. Milne Unless hit by a staggering bolt of get-off-your-butt-and-start-moving adrenaline, I'm often a slow starter. Suspecting the bottom shelf of books had been sitting in dried pee for months, I had trouble rushing right into the cleaning mode. I mean, really, who's going to be down on the floor sniffing the carpet? Who's going to suddenly want to read about gaseous Walter? Sure there was a natural resistance on my part to avoid the aroma of urine for as long as I could, but I think the main reason for my foot-dragging was the thought of throwing out so many beloved books. Which, I believe, begs the question what puts a book in the "beloved" category? I have a thing about books. I love to read. I love to collect. I love to stroll leisurely through bookstores, large or small, even on the internet. Can you say Amazon.com? As much as I like to curl up w...