Hope and Love

Welcome to my website and my very first blog:

Last night, as I watched Dolly Parton’s Heartstrings TV show called Down from Dover (Season 1, Episode 5, available on Netflix), Dolly expressed these words of wisdom before the show began: Hope and love are the greatest forces there are. If you have hope you can survive prejudice, you can survive separation, you can even survive unspeakable loss.

When someone receives a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s or any debilitating disease, there is unspeakable loss. Not just for the person with the diagnosis, but for everyone impacted by that person. As you watch your loved one lose each ability one by one, unspeakable loss occurs. How do you as the caregiver and your loved one survive? The answer is in remembering to find hope and love. Providing hope, love, and compassion for the one with the disease is of the utmost importance. Yet, the caregiver(s) is also in need of hope and lots of support, which is not always provided by even the most well meaning friends and family members.

In my book, The Phoenix Man, I include a Note to Caregivers after each chapter. In Chapter 8, I write: There is nothing more powerful than the love that you feel for your spouse, mother, father, and child(ren). And though being a caregiver is lonely at times, wham, out of the blue, here comes an Earth Angel needing to make an impact in your life. They may only be with you a short time, but they are here to guide and comfort you through this journey. When you encounter these Earth Angels, just know that they are sent to give you hope. And someday in the future, you will be that Earth Angel giving hope to someone else.

When you encounter someone who is needing some comfort, remember these powerful words…hope and love. Just by asking them What do you need, will give that person a feeling of hope, a feeling that someone cares. And that is all each of us needs…hope and love.