Six Tips for Surviving the Holiday Season When a Loved One Has Dementia Normally, Thanksgiving was my favorite holiday, a time our family gathered together at my Kansas City home. But that November, my stomach clenched at the thought of our traditional Thursday evening meal. My mother had Alzheimer’s and the holiday would be different. I felt alone but of course I wasn’t: there were 15 million family/friend caregivers helping the five million Americans who have dementia. I’d been through my initial storm of denial and grief. I felt I’d been coping we ...continued...

~~In the Nighttime To the individual working in near darkness, the place felt like a basement at midnight, illuminated only by a dim light bulb at the top of the stairway. No. Better. It felt like a mortuary in the middle of the night, the perfectionist mortician preparing a corpse for a starring role at its own funeral. An undertaker is an artist, after all, who must exult in the unveiling of the handiwork—or creative artwork—as gawkers pass by the open casket. The lone figure’s grin appeared as grotesque as the thoughts in its wearer’s head, illuminated as it wa ...continued...

I have commitment and relationship problems because when I was little my parents would make fun of me for liking boys and say I was too young to like anyone. As I grew older the thoughts scarred my mind and now at 20 I have yet to have a boyfriend. My sister has a boyfriend of 2 years and every time I talk to a guy my parents tell me its a waste of time and that I don't need anyone... Now I'm stuck telling myself that. I don't even know what "love" feels like, or what being a girlfriend is like. I am just the lone runner trying to reach the goals of a champion, and ...continued...

The way I see it is if I am so unhappy with how I look on the outside then I need to seriously buckle down and deal with it, only I am so addicted to the chips and the pop that I feel it is my crutch. I end up at the store buying things I dont need without even giving The big blow out! Mom entered my room, I can only imagine after grilling my sibling about her weight, spending habits and other things. She was on the war path and it just so happened that I was the nect victim. I heard a knock which lead to her helping herself into my room as though she owned it. To be honest, she pays the ...continued...

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Breaking Wild Horses By Cindy Gray Sometimes my dreams, even the ones I don’t really remember, leave me with a strange feeling of exhilaration. It&rsqu ...continued...

Fact can often appear to be well written fiction. How many times have we heard the expression “You couldn’t make this stuff up.” A few years ago I experienced one of these wonderful moments. It occurred in “Iggy’s” pub in Kincasslagh, on the west coast of Donegal. This remote place has two famous sons, Daniel O’Donnell (a very popular country and western crooner) and Packie Bonner (a famous and long serving Irish International soccer player). This is a beautiful and magical part of the world. The road to Kincasslagh is narrow and undulating. This ...continued...

It was already New Year and I tried to find him... But there is no sign of him... I tried to cover my tears with a smile just to celebrate my New Year with a smile... I talk to my cousin and tell her that I will find him so that I can greet him and kiss him like we always do... But I found nothing so I go to bed early and cry without hesitation... I feel that I was been betrayed... He dont tell me where he going and I dont know also where he have been... I cried until I get tired of crying and I found myself sleeping... I woke up early in the morning and decided to fix myself and go ...continued...

My First Ozark Mountains Camping Trip by ROLLAND LOVE http://ozarkstories.com I was eight years old the first time I camped in the Ozark Mountains. Dad and I pitched our tent on a gravel bar on the Jacks Fork River. For dinner that evening, we ate fried squirrel and corn on the cob from Mom’s garden. I sat by the firelight and dreamed about the big fish I would catch the next day as red and yellow flames cast shadows that danced like ghosts at the edge of darkness. The full moon and so many stars made the sky look like a silve ...continued...

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1.) I would like to become more culturally competent in every aspect of my life, not only including race but people who are different from me.   2.) I would like to learn/study more about the cultures and backgrounds of potential future clients. Then I would like to retake the cultural competence quiz and obtain a better score.   3.) I would like to be able to create plans that would include plans the exhibit cultural competence in my current and/or future profession.    ...continued...

I understand why people say, “Paybacks are a bitch!” It’s tough work to pay back someone in your life who has been giving to you since you were born. You see, when I came into this world, I came in having two mothers. And it seems like these two old ladies sure know the ropes because they got me hopping around like a chicken with her head cut off paying them back big time. By the time I clean up the kitchen from breakfast dishes, and whatnot, I’m setting the table back up because these two old gals are sitting at the table again ...continued...

Every single day we have to setup our camp and get the dogs settled. Every day we look forward to sitting in our cold tent for some degree of warmth and relative relaxation warming water for drinking and mixing with our dehydrated meals. We realize it is still below zero in our tent (our water will freeze overnight if left in something uninsulated), but warmth at this point is relative, funny how that works. To create our little slice of the tropics here we of course need a tent, and to set our tents up, we have to use an evil little device called an ice screw. See, we cannot use ...continued...

Mom was my best friend and though I feel her presence around me often, it is always strongest during Mother’s Day. Two years ago I was in a very dark place, overwhelmed with the chaos in my life I decided it was time to work on my office at home, trying to find and create order. As I opened a file drawer to clean it out, inside was an old blue folder with papers inside. Keep or throw I wondered as I opened the folder. Inside was a copy of the Constitution of the United States, the one mom helped me memorize in 8th grade. Ne ...continued...

Watch Out For Bears Read any literature from Yellowstone National Park today and you’ll find all sorts of warnings about feeding the bears or otherwise interfering with their normal beary kinds of activities. Occasionally you may see in the news a sad story about some unwary hiker, or worse a tale of some misguided nature nut who thought he could commune with the wild beasts, who gets mauled by a bear. People know, for the most part, anyway, that they need to stay out of the bear’s comfort zone. Which is why I just can’t under ...continued...