[Magdalen] Life is all about getting up in the morning

[Heather Angus]

May God bless you and Camille, Allan. It's unimaginably sad, but how
wonderful it is that she has you still.

Heather

On Wed, Sep 10, 2014 at 8:13 AM, Marilyn Cepeda <mcepeda514 at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Allen, I am so sorry you and Camille must go through this. I am glad that
> you have long term care insurance and community resources to help.
> Prayers.....
>
> On Wednesday, September 10, 2014, Allan Carr <allanc25 at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > Out house is one story so there's not much chance of Camille falling when
> > she wanders around. When i realize she's wandering and go for her, she
> > usually says something about someone wanting her to do something or go
> > somewhere or a like statement and i reassure her that it's someone in her
> > dream and no one here. I then take her to bed which is in another room
> than
> > mine because  she has fecal incontinence and, even with a pull up, can
> soil
> > the bed.
> >
> > She goes to a day care center for Alzheimer's patients three days a week.
> > The other two days she still gives an afternoon to the church thrift shop
> > or goes to a women's spirituality group. They women in both are her old
> > friends so I think they're as worth while for her as the Alzheimer's
> group.
> > We have a caregiver eight hours a day, fortunately paid by our long term
> > care insurance, who takes her there in the morning and brings her back in
> > the afternoon.
> >
> > We've had a little toy poodle, Joey, for thirteen years. Now in
> September,
> > monsoon breezes are coming up the grade from the beach cities so I often
> > delay his walk until noon or so and there's still some breeze. After the
> > walk I have a latte with the caregiver up to when it's near time to get
> > Camille, so sometimes Joey goes into the facility with our caregiver,
> much
> > to the delight of the patients inside.
> >
> > Today in passing, the caregiver mentioned that Camille doesn't recognize
> > her if she walks in without Joey but does recognize her if she has Joey.
> I
> > didn't know that and it saddened me.
> >
> > On Tue, Sep 9, 2014 at 7:59 AM, Lynn Ronkainen <ichthys89 at comcast.net
> > <javascript:;>>
> > wrote:
> >
> > > this came across my 'e-desk' just now and after reading thought I would
> > > share. It brought to mind all of our lives in various permutations and
> > the
> > > chances and cares of the world that we all are called to deal with.
> > > peace
> > > Lynn
> > >
> > >
> > > Life is all about getting up in the morning  /  by Michael Leach    |
> > > Sep. 9, 2014 Soul Seeing
> > >
> > > "Be willing to be a beginner every single morning." -- Meister Eckhart
> > >
> > > The first click is at 7:30 a.m. Someone is singing.
> > >
> > > If you wanna get to heaven
> > > Get out of this world
> > > You're the voyager
> > > You're the voyager ...
> > >
> > > It's Groundhog Day.
> > >
> > > Every day is just the same but totally different.
> > >
> > > I reach over Vickie, hit the snooze button, pull the cover up to her
> > neck,
> > > cuddle up and stroke her hair. Before I know it, my mouth falls open
> and
> > my
> > > brain is numb again.
> > >
> > > Click.
> > >
> > > You're the voyager ...
> > >
> > > I stumble out of bed and turn off the radio. "Stay. I'll go first."
> > >
> > > I sit on the edge of the bed with my arms on my knees and my head down
> > > like a boxer after a tough round.
> > >
> > > It started around 2 a.m. when the ceiling light in the hallway blinked
> > on,
> > > sensing that someone was wandering around like Lady Macbeth. A kiddie
> > gate
> > > near the stairs prevents Vickie from falling down, so I don't rush.
> > "You're
> > > sleepwalking, sweetie." I put my arm around her and lead her to the
> > > bathroom, then tuck her back in. We spoon and I caress her face,
> lightly
> > > over the eyebrow, circling the hollow near her temple, smoothing her
> > hair.
> > > She's asleep in less than a minute. It takes me longer. There'll be two
> > > more voyages before the morning's first click. Alzheimer's is like
> that.
> > >
> > > But now I'm up. The rest of my day depends on how I begin it. I open
> the
> > > blinds to let in the light. The sky is overcast. "Good morning,
> > sunshine,"
> > > I call over. "It's a beautiful day."
> > >
> > > "Mm hmm," she answers.
> > >
> > > I sit next to the night table that has an open copy of the new Jack
> > > Reacher thriller and a Miracles magazine. This is a good time for most
> > > people to meditate but I never meditate because I can't keep the
> > chattering
> > > monkey in my brain still for two seconds. So I just sit and watch my
> > > thoughts pass by without judging them and then the thought comes that
> > life
> > > is all about getting up in the morning and meeting needs as they
> appear,
> > > without fuss, moment by moment. Maybe that's what love is, too.
> > >
> > > I was going to write a book back in the 1970s about living in the
> present
> > > moment but didn't because I only had about three good double-spaced
> pages
> > > in me. Plus, if you think about it, the only real moment we can focus
> on
> > is
> > > the one that happens next. The present one is always in the past.
> > >
> > > So I sit by Vickie and sing to her in a whispery voice, "Good morning,
> > > sunshine, the earth says hello ..."
> > >
> > > "G' morning, Sooshi," she says.
> > >
> > > "It's time to start our day." I pull down the cover as she pulls
> herself
> > > up. We both sit on the side of the bed. "My feet," she says, "where are
> > my
> > > feet?"
> > >
> > > "Over here." I reach for her fluffy pink slippers and put them on her
> > like
> > > Cinderella. Her feet are still pretty at 68. Mine are disgusting, like
> a
> > > dinosaur's.
> > >
> > > Next Vickie looks in the bathroom mirror and says, "My hair!" She looks
> > > like an electrocuted chicken. I tell her, "It's OK. The aliens came
> last
> > > night. They parked their ship in the backyard and abducted you. They
> took
> > > samples of your hair because it's so beautiful they want to grow it on
> > > their planet."
> > >
> > > This is a routine we go through every morning. It's always the same but
> > > always different because each time we react to everything like it's
> > > happening for the first time, which for Vickie it is. I heard the
> actress
> > > Aubrey Plaza improvising with Jon Stewart the other night, and when he
> > > complimented her, she said, "All of life is improv, isn't it?"
> > >
> > > We go through our familiar liturgy of hygiene and getting dressed,
> Vickie
> > > first. It takes about as long as an early morning Mass by a priest and
> an
> > > altar boy who want to get it right even if nobody's watching. We hug
> > before
> > > we go downstairs, and I say, "You done good, sweetie," and she says,
> > "Thank
> > > you," two words she has always remembered, and I remember Meister
> > Eckhart's
> > > saying, "If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is thank
> > you,
> > > it will be enough."
> > >
> > > We go down to the kitchen where I slice bananas for our corn flakes,
> put
> > a
> > > straw in Vickie's chocolate Boost, and take a swig from a carton of OJ.
> > > I've brought down my Miracles magazine to read while we eat.
> > >
> > > "Listen to this, sweetie. It's kids on what love means. Rebecca, age 8:
> > > 'When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn't bend over and paint
> her
> > > toenails anymore. So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even
> > when
> > > his hands got arthritis too.' "
> > >
> > > Vickie is pointing past me, through the sliding glass doors, onto the
> > > patio. I know what she's looking at. Our Lady of the Garden, the little
> > > sculpture of our Blessed Mother that sits in the garden Vickie tended
> for
> > > decades before she could no longer.
> > >
> > > "Yes, she's beautiful. She's looking after your garden and after us."
> > >
> > > Vickie smiles. Nothing makes me smile more.
> > >
> > > I read the last entry to myself. Terri, age 4: "Love is what makes you
> > > smile when you're tired."
> > >
> > > [Michael Leach shepherds Soul Seeing for NCR and books for Orbis
> Books.]
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > website: www.ichthysdesigns.com
> > >
> > > When I stand before God at the end of my life I would hope that I have
> > not
> > > a single bit of talent left and could say, "I used everything You gave
> > me."
> > > attributed to Erma Bombeck
> > >
> > > Thomas Merton writes, "People may spend their whole lives climbing the
> > > ladder of success only to find, once they reach the top, that the
> ladder
> > is
> > > leaning against the wrong wall."
> > >
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > Allan Carr
> >
>
>
> --
> Marilyn Cepeda
>