Vivian’s membership as part of the care-share team was clouded by her own memories of dark and lonely days caring for her own father. She knew she had not had time to heal from that experience, but would she be seen in a negative light if she left the team?
I had walked with Maria as she faced crisis after crisis. I had struggled to help her create positive ways to live her life. But now she’d met the most handsome man and she wanted me to change my role. Could I enjoy my new freedom and expand our friendship?
She was a professional in her late forties who had early-onset Alzheimer’s-type dementia and could no longer function in her many important capacities. We set up a care-share team who worked together for what ended up being a five-year journey.
Martin had come to Seattle and was matched with a faith-based group who welcomed him as their care partner. He grew strong and prospered from the help and assistance of his group. And when he was ready, he joined a team that would support someone else who needed a safety net.
Five weeks after his 101th birthday, Carl stepped out of this dimension and embarked on a new adventure. Through the tears I heard stories of the three and a half years in his last home. Who would have thought the move to the nursing home would become such a gift in so many ways?
Our friend, Diane Venti, wrote to tell us . . .
Read More “Diane”I’m was the victim of “one of those emails.” You know the kind. Everyone in your address book gets one a saying you’ve had some terrible experience in a foreign country (fill in the country) and that you regret the request, but you’re in need of some amount of money (fill in the amount) immediately, and can they be a doll and quickly send the money.
Read More “Suzanne”In New York, London, Bermuda and Sydney, she’s the owner and head of Isis AP, which advises companies on mergers and raises money for fund managers, but Exel is better known as the caftan-wearing founder and chief fundraiser of the Isis Foundation, which provides life-saving health care and education for 20,000 people a year in two of the world’s most impoverished nations, Nepal and Uganda.
Read More “Audette”Just months shy of retirement eligibility, having dedicated over 19 years of loyalty to her employer, Denise was told she’d been an exemplary manager but her services were no longer needed, effective immediately. In a moment, Denise went from being the primary income earner for her family to the ranks of the unemployed.
Read More “Denise”After living as a nomad for over two years, on May 1, 2010, I moved into my own apartment. I was just telling a friend that I could not have made it through these past two years without my friends, many of whom I’ve known and remained connected to for over 30 years. These are the same friends who will be my safety net (and I theirs) as we move further ahead in life.
Read More “Brenda”