Friday Morning

It is still hard waking up in the dark again since we shifted to Daylight Savings last Sunday. But there are some perks. Now I get to see the sunrise again and take some photos of it in between my many morning tasks. We get up at 6:45 am and Arvin heads out to catch the bus at 8:45. I don't stop doing things until some time after he leaves. I call it all my morning chores. It is quite different from my mornings in the past after retirement and before Alzheimer's. Sometimes I really miss the old lazier mornings. But truly, I don't resent the current start of the day. This is because Arvin is still the sweetest of fellows and so gracious in receiving my help. Every day he thanks me for all I do. It makes a difference. Especially since I know he would much prefer getting his day going independently. But it just isn't possible anymore. 

I have a meeting with Kate from the Northwest Regional Council. She is coming to our house to talk to me about their Family Caregiver Support Program. It is time I looked further for help with my caregiving tasks. I have already found a person to come one Sunday a month to hang out with Arvin while I go to play duplicate bridge with my brothers and nine other folks. I am also looking for the best way for coverage while I go off on my own. I plan to spend a week at "art camp" in August, so I am preparing for that now. And getting ready for any other short breaks on my own that might come up in the meantime.

I am so very lucky that Arvin loves his day groups. So many of my support group friends have spouses or other care receivers who just do not want anything to do with the groups. Sometimes they can be attracted to them at our social gatherings by folks like Arvin who tell them about the groups in a positive way. But often not. And their care givers have much less free time than I do. I really don't know how they manage. I love my free time and treasure every moment.