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Category: Caring for aging parents

The Decline of Manners: Are We Losing Politeness?

The Decline of Manners: Are We Losing Politeness?

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Manners seem to be a thing of the past: Who remembers Emily Post? She was once the arbiter of all things “polite.” Who remembers Emily Post? She was once the arbiter of all things “polite.” Now, most people would not recognize the name. Someone who was once so well-known and familiar has nearly disappeared from polite conversation. Of course, the other thing that has disappeared is polite conversation. People no longer know how to have a conversation. They text or…

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RIP Mary Bowman

RIP Mary Bowman

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We had dinner every Monday night for years. She liked to have two drinks before dinner. So that meant there was a lot of chatter and conversation between us as we sipped. As we got to know each other well. A mutual feeling of friendship grew between us. I LIKED her. It was fun to see each other every week. I looked forward to Mondays. I had come to Washington DC to live with my aging mother. I needed an…

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A Year Best Forgot

A Year Best Forgot

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My memoir about living with and caring for my mother is still not ready for publication. Unfortunately, this last year was not conducive to deadlines or serious revisions. It is hard to do that when you are living in the thick of what you are writing. I could see that it was coming to a close. There was no way to know when, though. The year remains blurry, cloudy, thick. It is hard to remember individual days because they are…

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The Final Year, Recapping 2019

The Final Year, Recapping 2019

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I had no inkling that the year would end as it has. January was a bit slow with some little show of snow and my birthday spent with my class from the Capital Speakers Club at the Rodarte exhibit. I spend hours looking out of the picture window in the Garden Room, watching the antics of the squirrels and the birds and occasionally other wildlife. One day as I was sitting at my computer looking halfway to the outdoors over…

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Manifesting Moon

Manifesting Moon

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They say today is the best day for manifesting what you want. It has to do with the full moon in Mercury Retrograde. I don’t understand it. But I believe it is powerful. What I wish I could manifest is a new life for my mother who is 101 and appears to be heading out. There is nothing to do about this. I am helpless and so is everyone else. She is beautiful and comfortable and well-loved. She still kisses…

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An Evening with Mother

An Evening with Mother

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When you have reached the age of 101, many things change. Once important things are discarded. People begin to fade away. They dress in beige, grey or black. Perhaps a navy blue jacket is worn to liven things up. These ladies have “let the old woman in,” as my sister famously quoted. Not every woman allows this. My Mother loves bright color. She dresses every day, in a way that suggests she is about to go to an elegant luncheon….

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Daughters Day…

Daughters Day…

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Before today I had never heard of it. But apparently it is a real thing. Daughters Day. It will one day be as important as Mothers Day which is a totally “made up” Holiday that has never been very important to me. Every day Mothers give whole heartedly to their children. Every day they love them more than they love themselves. Every second they worry about them when they are small, and as they get bigger the worries grow with…

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Grateful every single morning

Grateful every single morning

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So this will be short. A picture is worth one thousand words, isn’t it? And I have a couple that show the way I feel when the sun is just up and my time is my own before others awaken. Our mornings have been spectacular the last few days. Awe-inspiring and just lovely. For me, they produce a rush of gratitude for being alive. Not everyone I love is able to experience this natural beauty. Both my mother and my…

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