It’s been over 2 years since I’ve written on this blog. My only excuses now might be laziness or exhaustion, but I prefer my rationale at the time. I was just beginning my trip with Jim through his Alzheimer’s/dementia journey, and so I was on an information search, checking out various blogs, Alzheimer’s websites, talking with people I know who have dealt with family members or friends suffering with various forms of dementia. There was just so much information out there, so many different blogs and stories, I couldn’t help feeling that I would be adding nothing new to the discussion.
But it’s been over five years now since I noticed Jim’s first symptoms, and I have learned a lot; perhaps not a lot more about the disease itself, but I’ve learned a lot about me, a lot about Jim and our fluid, changing relationship, and a lot about the many meanings of family. So that is where I think I will be taking this blog. I will likely bounce back and forth, as things come to me, or as Jim changes.
And though when I first began this blog, I did not want to post photos or give more information about Jim’s identity, I no longer feel so strongly about those things. Nothing I write now will ever hurt or embarrass him.
This thing called life can sure be a bumpy ride. But I’m grateful for every tumultuous minute I’ve had on this magnificent planet, bumps and all. And, though it may seem hard to believe, I am grateful for this time I am sharing with my husband. I believe I am a better, more compassionate person for the experience. Though I’d be less than honest if I didn’t also say I wish none of it had ever happened.
(Above photo taken March 24, 2017 at Descanso Gardens, La Canada Flintridge, CA. Jim still enjoyed taking photos with his 35 mm Nikon back in 2017. Today he no longer knows how to use the camera.)
Writing Through Challenges & Change 