Giving Thanks

Soon after mom came to live with me I thought often of writing about her and all we were going through.  At that time though it was hard for me to find the humor in the situation.  Learning to deal with another family member in your house takes some getting used to and not just for me but the rest of the family.

Looking back at the first year and the year prior to that I really only remember the hard times and the very difficult circumstances we had to work through dealing with trying to help her long distance over the phone with:

• taking her medications daily
• trying to find help getting her pill box set up
• dealing with nursing agencies who did not understand how to deal with an Alzheimer patient
• dealing with mom calling crying on the phone that she couldn't find her cat or her cat was sick or she was sick 
• she couldn't find her purse or 
• dealing with difficult family members  who did not understand, were not helpful, and actually made things much harder for me 

                                  and..................the list goes on.

I drove to SC every few months to check on her and bring her back to Dayton.  Initially she would stay with us for a couple weeks and that grew to about 6 weeks and, of course, eventually she moved in.

Gradually things got better or perhaps we just learned to adjust.  Learning to look for the humor in the situation helped immensely.  And that is where blogging came in to the picture.  I am thankful every time I think of how blogging has changed  my life.

I am thankful for my friend Robin who after vacationing with me and Lily encouraged me to begin.

I am thankful for Bob Burkle who gave me such an uplifting comment at the beginning of my blogging which was a great motivator.

I am thankful for the friends that encouraged me after I began--
Leigh Ann, Paula,Anne, Linda, Sande, Terry and Lynn.

I am thankful for my friend Bob DeMarco at the Alzheimer Reading Room http://www.alzheimersreadingroom.com/who has set a high standard for me to aspire to and has encouraged me greatly along the way.  I also appreciate the many comments I have received from my posts published on his site.

I am thankful for my new friends in the blogging community such as
Judy http://chrissysmoments.wordpress.com/,
Debbie http://debbiesdailygarden.blogspot.com/, and Karen http://karensfavoritephotos.blogspot.com/ who leave frequent comments on my posts.  Comments mean so much as they validate what you write and keep the juices alive.

I am thankful for Denyse (my miles that matter friend) who has been my number one fan and a great energy boost for me.

I appreciate all the followers of my blog and the anonymous comments I have received  and those from people such my former neighbor's mother Cindy.

I am thankful for Nienie's http://nieniedialogues.blogspot.com/ stories of her family and the challenges she faces each and every day..

I am thankful for the inspiration  I receive from the bloggers who are living the disease in a much more personal way such as Mike Donohue http://im-mike.blogspot.com/, Sue Scoggins http://suescoggins.com/blog, and Karen http://henleysheroes.blogspot.com/.

I am thankful for cousin-in-law Sue who is a fabulous writer herself and so encourages me and gives me wonderful feedback on my pieces.

I am thankful for my wonderful family who are there for me and have helped me so much with Lily along the way.

Yes, blogging has added so much to my life and without Lily none of this would have have happened.  I am thankful for the opportunity to make something good out of an unwanted situation.  Kind of like the proverbial make lemonade out of lemons.

Lastly, I want to thank God for all he has brought into my life and the grace and mercy he has shown me.

I wish all of you a very wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving with your family and friends.