Monday, October 2, 2023

Monday, October 2, 2023

Tonight's picture was taken in September of 2005. Mattie was three years old and that day we took Mattie to a park to walk and explore. However, Mattie loved picnics! So as you can see, I made sandwiches, brought drinks, treats and towels. In so many ways, these were much simpler times in my life, and the funny part is I had NO IDEA!

Quote of the day: The fact that something has happened to a million other people diminishes neither grief nor joy. ~ Author Unkown

This morning, after dropping my dad off at his memory care center, I drove to Washington, DC. It literally took me about 40 minutes to get there. I had a dentist appointment, and though I live in the suburbs, I still use all my doctors from when I lived in the city. To me this dentist office is state of the art, and I am not leaving it. 

In any case, I left my mom at home, and I had about two hours to myself. Who knew that going to a dentist could be respite. The waiting area in the office, has a beautiful picture window, soft music, and this TV screen showing this autumn scene. It is actually quite the screen, because leaves move in the wind, pages in the book flip over, and therefore it is relaxing while animated. It helps to set the tone for the visit. 

When my hygienist came out to get me, she gave me a big hug. She knows I am a caregiver to two people with dementia. Her dad had dementia, so she knows what I am up against. My parents are also her patients. When we got back into the room where she did my cleaning, she lowered the lights and put on "rat pack" music. As she knows I like listening to these golden oldies. In any case, we got to talking and we shared a lot of personal issues with each other. It was almost therapeutic, as we found we have even more in common than we knew. Needless to say, we both go to the dentist office for RESPITE. As I always say, caregivers of all kinds, are attracted to each other. We just immediately understand the one another.