THIS is such a great film, a great documentary full of amazing facts for the future! I've been studying all these things for awhile now but this movie captures it all in such a great interesting way that I was left so excited after I watched it! For I just had to share here on my own blog! The truth is we will always have something NEW to discover and learn about just like we will always have a NEW year to start over the calendar and to challenge ourselves to change. Simply have your own experiences will teach you better then I could, better then even this film can. It is the WONDER of it ALL that makes these things speak to my heart and soul leaving me very hopeful for the future and for the cycle of time itself!
So pour yourself a cup of coffee and sit back awhile to watch this, stay warm and stay intrigued! THIS is sacred information for your soul, for your happiness!
It was a precious movie, a fun relaxing animation of a nursing home. The story is common about old age, yet there was a sense of adventure and delight in being old along side this film. I found myself settled peacefully enjoying every second of the dialogue and the scenarios as these elderly people share the truth of living so close to death and that next wonder in what new adventure awaits. This movie is dedicated to all the old people of today and of tomorrow.... BEAUTIFUL!
This movie was deeply moving and brilliant in my opinion and since I will be the old people of tomorrow I like knowing how to get ready for it with the help from this inspiring movie called "Wrinkles"! The Alzheimer patient in this story shows once again how important understanding the disease is in helping those who suffer with it better. This is what I have learned;
1. Don't take ANYTHING they say personal. They don't hold some kind of personal plan to upset you in anyway, they are confused.
2. Don't ask them questions. Even as simple as "How are you doing?" will send them into a panic for an answer they are not sure of.....
3. Don't correct them on any of their story details or mistaken facts, simply play along in a respectful manner for nothing is being said that will be remembered as right or wrong, but your correction will be insulting to them.
4. Don't look for validation or approval, the Alzheimer patient can't help you or hold your hand like they use to. For they don't see anyone else's need to be loved by them anymore.
5. Always keep your conversations and sharing of stories very simple, less details and information will make better sense for them and often triggers their lost memories....so go with the flow of their own story telling self.
6. Most importantly remember an Alzheimer patient is a blank slate, for them it is hard to know what kind of attitude to have or what kind of mood to be in, so what ends up happening is they become perfect mirrors of YOU. If you are bossy they become bossy, if you are sad then they will be sad not knowing why at all. If you ignore them as they mindlessly ramble then soon they will be complaining about you ignoring them. This is both a gift and a challenge, changing who you are in front of them can change the way they are acting as well. Bonus step number 7. Never hang out with an Alzheimer patient unless you have an endless amount of calm kindness and patience to answer their same questions a thousand times over. For we ALL deserve respect and honor in our last days of our beautiful long life coming to a graceful end.
All is calm, all is bright......I walked beside my husband's Grandma, for she has always been the sweetest Grandma I have ever met! We walked down the hallway to her new room as she sang and smiled at me from her walker. Back when I knew this day was coming I was getting ready for it, I had my happiest smile waiting for this moment in time, she knows nothing but how be a mirror of who is around her. Alzheimer does this to the brain, eats away memory and reality slowly. Common steps in how society functions around us become very confusing and even insulting to the patient of this sad disease. Studies are now showing that Alzheimer is a diabetic problem that with old age it gets harder to fight back the constant sugar inflammation, which in return is poisoning the brain slowly. Nothing seems slow about how fast Grandma Beth disappearing from us, if she remembers you for a second then that is truly delightful but chances are the second will not last.....
Silent night, holy night all is calm, all is lost......
My husband has never had a grandparent die nor any close friend as of today, I would not wish him to know that kind of real sorrow and pain. and most importantly I would not be honest in trying to protect him from these things in life. It will be sad, actually it is very sad even now to face the simple fact that ALL of life will die, for time never ever stands completely still.
It is because of my personal experiences with death that I understand how deeply important it is for my husband to see his confused kind Grandmaright away. Grandma Beth laughed when I laughed, listened to my stories and shared her own, I listened as though every rambling thing she said made complete and total sense to me. She loved it that I respectfully responded to her craziness as natural as if it were myself telling the same weird story. While my husband Tony sat by us frowning in confusion and frustration. When he spoke I heard the edginess in his voice of being sarcastic and judgmental so I waved him down trying to stop him from speaking this way as instantly Grandma Beth became mad at him. She was suddenly upset and sarcastic right back at him. I would step in very naturally all relaxed reminding Grandma that we women had to stick together then she was giggling arm in arm with me again. This left Tony dumbfounded and overwhelmed saying as soon as we left "I want you to write about this in your blog, I need help in knowing what to do next time I come visit. Because she clearly liked YOU and hated ME?!?!?" I sighed understandingly towards him explaining "Don't take it personal, she really didn't know you or me at all, what she DID know was how my attitude and voice was upbeat and yours was cynical. THIS is the only reason she behaved very differently with you and me." Tony rubbed his forehead as he often does when overwhelmed by things, we sat over a cup of coffee to take a break from our long afternoon. I said "I am glad we went, I wanted to see her so much. I loved how fun it was to see her surprised face whenever I left and came back, how we would hug as if we were long lost friends even though I was gone for a second. It's rather those little moments that really count, not that she knew me or not." Tony sighed sadly "I don't know how to do that, all I see is her behaving ridiculously. She must of thought that she had so much company today acting like you were a new person in her life every time you came back to sit with her?!?" I laughed and grateful sipped on my coffee cup while reminding my very easily made cynical husband to not look at the actual facts but instead look at the new story in which we can create for her each and every time.
It is often said that "all is calm just before the storm" and I know this from personal experiences and with many stories of how the day before any kind of trauma seems to reach an almost magical utopia in our memories when we look back and think "I didn't even know that was a perfect moment in my life...just before all hell brook loose the next day." It is because we are reflective beings that while going through deep stress in a crisis we will automatically look back at how nice everything was in our lives on that amazing day before..... It is no secret with those who know me how passionate and opinionated I can become, having been raised in a family who always had to stand for something, who always had to be RIGHT. I will carry those same good and bad traits with me ALWAYS. Yet as I grow older I try to learn how everything has 2 sides to every story, that each person has a very different life experience from my own self. The most freeing feeling in the world for me was when I could say "Maybe I was wrong?" It is a powerful feeling to admit not knowing it all, to be able to say "I am sorry." without feeling humiliated by my constant learning curve ahead of me as I grow older. I am passionate still, even with a constant understanding that my ego will never ease to challenge my need for my peace of mind and keeping me on my toes! It is very important to me that I keep growing and changing, that I seek a better understanding from how other people see the world while delighting in all I have learned for my own magical view of things. Along side my passion and my opinions I have dedicated my life to fighting against ABUSE. This is a very broad topic, abuse covers many problems that I stand against with a powerful sense of bettering the world in my bravery to speak up even though I may be the only one in a group who is lead to do so.....maybe in those moments I ask myself "Am I wrong here for being so fired up?" Then I think of the definition for the word "abuse" and then I come back to my bravery as a much needed a strength to say "I will ALWAYS stand against ABUSE, I made my mission statement for the group "The Band of Mercy" years ago to say "We fight against all animal abuse." It is a constant conversation to teach our next generation how all animals in this world need our help, they need our respect. Abuse is the number one thing I will always fight against even if I stand alone, but my biggest delight in my life time is that I am never ever alone! There is a movement against abuse in many different levels out there, because GOOD people are NOT hard to find if we are brave enough to seek them out! It is the calm before the storm, every new year holds a certain kind of hope and a powerful desire for peace to better the world! A new year is unknown full of hopeful good days ahead! It is the endless cycle of growing and making a difference all together for that perfect quality of life! It is of my own personal opinion that if we stand against abuse then we can reach this goal, to give every living soul endless love and joy! SO I will always speak up and stand out against abuse, be it child abuse, animal cruelty, drug abuse, domestic violence, Government corruption, police force abuse, criminal activities and ANYONE who hurts another living soul. I know why I stand against ABUSE of any kind, I am not out to make light of all the wars or battle lines drawn......everyone will have a story to tell and a passion to follow so I think being able to listen and love unconditionally helps all these issues of abuse get addressed and dealt with head on. May this New Year be a refreshing new start to create the kind of world that we all would like! It is my most favorite question to ask every single day that I am alive "What kind of world do you want?" Make it so for 2015, take heart and ownership of yourself to be the BEST person that you can be!
My personal celebration of the holidays never gets old, Especially when shared with kids! I have enjoyed babysitting, dog sitting and the occasional odd jobs this past fall, whenever I get to watch my buddy Joshua we have a great time! We toss paper airplanes, or climb trees, we look through the bug book and run through the sprinklers especially after a day at the ZOO. These last 4 years with him in my life has been so delightful, so energizing that I was sad in hearing he was moving away this week. So we made a big fun last event in hanging out at the holiday "Garden a Glow" along with his Mom and baby brother. The four of us had such a delightful time in the botanical gardens decorate in Christmas lights! Joshua and I ran to the top of the hill while his mom Eranda sat with her baby boy Kite, resting and waiting for us to return. Eranda said my blinking lights on my hat allowed her to know where we were up there in the whole time. Joshua and I just stood a moment at the top of the gardens looking out across at Boise, Idaho. In the winter's darkness I said "Look at those city lights! I am so glad it's not so cold right now up here." Joshua jumped around from bench to bench saying "I won't be living here anymore.....and so we won't get to go to the zoo anymore." I felt sad as I thought about how much fun I've always had hanging out with this kid! I smiled back thoughtfully and half hugged him knowing it is always so hard when everything changes. When we saw a long line of kids waiting to ring the bell in the glowing gardens I asked Josh if we should go get in line he smirked "It's not worth standing in line forever....it's just a bell, I rang it last year anyway." I laughed at his response knowing so many times when we went to festivals or to parades if there was a crowd he would always say "This isn't fun any more lets walk over there where there is less people." I would agree proudly and we would just chat away in our own world. The Garden a Glow evening was truly fun and magical, we walked through the whole place and saw every display while goofing around together. As a going away gift I gave Joshua our well used bug book and his favorite rubber snake that we had played many pranks on each other with over the years! The magic of being a kid is such a huge world of wonders that I will always be so grateful for these years of hanging out with my buddy Joshua! I will be a bit sad too, I shall miss him so much for swinging and walking the railroad tracks or jumping over the irrigation ditch was made even better with him by my side, with him saying things like "This is CRAZY! We could get hit by a train!" OR in that moment when I swung him over the water only to fall completely in myself! We both were laughing so long over that moment in our many adventures!
It was a holly jolly night running around with Joshua under the Christmas lights even though I knew I would be sad when he left. Making it the best night ever in jokes and stories and laughter! Being friends is something that came so natural for us that I know we will always stay in touch, It's just hard to adapt to not having him around to show me new things like the lego movie or how to order from the new soda machines in McDonald's and Burger King. So instead I will keep the memories of dancing to all his Michael Jackson songs or putting old puzzles together as the best part of our holly jolly good times!
When I went to church growing up THIS was my most favorite hymn at Christmas time, the emotional power of singing these lyrics so passionately made me tear up a bit at the message in how we have hope from our oppression in this world! Falling on my knees always made me feel so humble and so true to our natural calling to be grateful this time of the year for everything we have! This song still speaks to me in a much different way because I no longer have blind faith but instead I see the bigger message in this song as a metaphor for all things! for on December 25th the SUN is born again from that date on it becomes more light out later on in the day as the Sun grows toward the summer solstices and while religion takes the same story for it's own agenda I see in this song once again the hidden promise of hope returning after a long dark cold winter.......I'll always admire this song for the joy to my heart it brings!
