Donna – Page 27 – Becoming A Family Caregiver

Lynn and I playing Santa when we gave out present to our family, Christmas 2018

Planning, Time, and Flexibility: Essential Ingredients for the Holidays

Leave a Comment / Blog, Blog Library, Relationships-Family / Donna

Christmas is a wonderful time of year; full of fun, excitement, and family gatherings. For weeks beforehand, I spend time decorating, planning, anticipating the good times, and envisioning the perfect holiday. Like so many dreams, the reality is rarely the picture-perfect vision that I have in my head. That is particularly true now that MS […]

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Hold My Hand

Leave a Comment / Blog, Blog Library, Relationships-caregiving / Donna

Dear Lord, I don’t know why you do the things that you do or why you let happen the things that you choose. I’ve often doubted your wisdom and resented your ways; not willing to accept what I was facing that day. Like when I was a young and my friends turned away, I was

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All He Can Do Is Yell

2 Comments / Blog, Blog Library, Emotions-Challenges / Donna

I’ve never been comfortable with strong expressions of anger. I’m the sort of person that prefers to compromise and resolve things peacefully so one of the more difficult challenges I have faced is how to handle Lynn’s frustrations expressed through anger. Today as I was working at my desk, I heard over the baby monitor I

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Thus the Week Before Christmas

3 Comments / Blog, Blog Library, Relationships-Family / Donna

Thus the week before Christmas and all through the house Not a creature was stirring not even my spouse A small Christmas tree had been placed on a stand So he could “see” Christmas from his power wheelchair The last of our children this past year had been wed So most of my parenting worries

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Cheesecake Makes it All Worthwhile

2 Comments / Blog, Blog Library, Emotions-Joy / Donna

I love Christmas. I’m sure I’m not alone when I say it’s my favorite time of year. I love the excitement, the beauty, and especially the meaning….but it IS a lot of work. The reason I did not write a blog last week is that I was busy decorating for Christmas. You see, I must

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How am I Thankful? Let Me Count the Ways

2 Comments / Blog, Blog Library, Faith Sustains / Donna

I’m ashamed to say that I often use this blog to vent. When I’m tired and discouraged, I find it therapeutic to talk it through on this blog know that there are those out there who have gone through the same things or are experiencing them now, and that helps to know I am not

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Take Care of Myself? LOL

1 Comment / Blog, Blog Library, Self-Care / Donna

I read an interesting article on the Caregiver Space this week which has led me to think a lot about taking care of myself and why I don’t. The article was called “6 Reasons Why Caregivers Don’t Self-Care (the way you’re telling us to)” http://www.thecaregiverspace.org/blog/6-reasons-caregivers-dont-self-care-way-youre-telling-us/ It got right to the heart of why; at least

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Audiobook…Take Me Away

Leave a Comment / Blog, Blog Library, Emotions-Joy / Donna

I love to read. Since I was a small girl, I’ve taken a book with me everywhere I go. If there was the possibility that I might have waiting time, I had my book ready and waiting to spare me from any boredom as I was taken into the world of “whatever” for the few minutes

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Lack of sleep, fatigue, poor eating habits, and canceling medical appointments all contribute to increased risk of serious health problems for caregivers.

A Little to the Left Please

1 Comment / Blog, Blog Library, Emotions-Insights / Donna

I often complain about how picky I think Lynn is. One of my greatest frustrations is how much effort it takes to get something right for him. It has to be “just so” before we can stop fiddling with whatever it is. I’ve always thought that it was just because he was picky

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I Didn't Say That

3 Comments / Blog, Blog Library, Providing Care-Lessons Learned / Donna

I’ve discovered that a lot of people who have never been caregivers just don’t get what it really means to be a caregiver and they make a lot of bad assumptions that sometimes cause us to hurt. I had an example of that this week. On Friday, I received an email from my former sister-in-law.

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