I began writing a few different pieces for Donnas Lessons in recent days, but part way through I have been becoming exhausted. I simply cannot recount long stretches of the last few years without having the stress, fear, anxiety and ‘fight or flight’ responses from starting to take over my thoughts and feelings before I… Continue reading The post it has taken five tries to write
Tag: parks
Heatwaves, Hamburgers and Handydarts
When it is as hot as it is in Vancouver (well, Burnaby) Canada now, there is little chance in thinking deeply on any other subject. I have complained many times about the Handydart system in BC for elders and incapacitated people of all ages. But, I must say, the existence of this service has made… Continue reading Heatwaves, Hamburgers and Handydarts
Heat and beating it
There are only a couple of weeks a year that exist in Vancouver hot enough to be dangerous. The danger, of course, escalates with your age. So how do we have lives together that are also safe? Fortunately, we have lakes.
Donna, Boating and Expressed Joy
I took mom to Deer Lake and out on the pedal boats for the third time this year last week (end of September 2017). When we arrived and went into the water it was more still than the other times. It meant we could move very easily, and that I had no clue just how… Continue reading Donna, Boating and Expressed Joy
May 4, 2017: When Spring has sprung
Last summer was the first one to head into with a Mom who also loves to play piano. This is remarkable for many reasons, and perhaps it is best because not only does it give warm, enjoyable things to do all winter– but something beautiful to cap the day when we have been out all… Continue reading May 4, 2017: When Spring has sprung
October 14, 2015: Mom turns 75
Perhaps obviously, I wrote this in the morning of Mom’s birthday before we went out. I don’t remember all of many days, even many of the better ones of the last few years have had one over-arching vagueness in the memory after the fact. One day at a time life is like that. But I… Continue reading October 14, 2015: Mom turns 75
October 1, 2015: Mom gets a chair from The Captain
A good friend offered up an old wheelchair he wasn’t using to us a few short months after Mom moved home. I was skeptical, as I both thought she would resent it and that it was bad for her– “don’t use em, lose em” is your muscle tone and strength. But, why not, I thought…… Continue reading October 1, 2015: Mom gets a chair from The Captain
September 7, 2015: After the Lake
Having realistic and still beautiful goals makes achieving them possible and gives the feeling you need most: Purpose. The why in doing something needs it’s own answer– and much like activism, there is no score card but simply your own judgement and the change in your surrounding you can invoke that become your barometer. Meet… Continue reading September 7, 2015: After the Lake
September 7, 2015: Labour Day at the lake
In the first summer I spent with Mom, every activity we would discover worked for both of us was another eureka moment. Perhaps, however, as I needed to slow down my own vibrations to take on the running of this home for us and two cats, there was no greater shot in the can-do arm… Continue reading September 7, 2015: Labour Day at the lake
August 13, 2015: Mom is home now
After nearly two weeks, Mom returned home and was stronger than when she left (which is unusual in our situation, as Mom gets less motivated and more lethargic when she is in a hospital or similar facility– as do most of us). I was able to recharge, we were definitively on a new path and… Continue reading August 13, 2015: Mom is home now