My Studio

Shelly and I had a leisurely morning until it was time for me to go to the Alzheimer's support group. You may wonder why I still go there. Right now I am in transition between getting support and providing support as a volunteer. Today I did much more of the latter. I shared what has been going on in my life and for some it showed there is light at the end of the tunnel. I also continued to advocate for caregivers taking the time to be sure they care for themselves. I feel very strongly that this is necessary not to be a better caregiver, but because each and every one of us deserves to have a life that is meaningful and satisfying to them. So I encourage caregivers to keep doing things they love to do, and to get help as often as they can so they can stay engaged and have happiness in their own lives. It is not always easy to do this as we are often taught that to do this is "selfish." However self care is not the same as selfishness in my opinion. I feel very fortunate that I was able to care for Arvin and come out whole on the other side. I think staying in touch with my own needs and making sure that as many of them were met as could be while still taking good care of Arvin, is what saved my life and brought me to where I am today. Having Shelly in my life feels like a great big joyful lucky gift of the universe on top of all that came before.

After the group I went up to my studio to leave a check for next month's rent. While I was there I took a couple of photos. This is one.

Then I walked over to Helena's and the two of us spent the afternoon together. We had coffee and a snack and then went over to our favorite clothing store, Betty Lou's Emporium. We had a delightful time trying on and picking out clothes to buy. They had just gotten in a new shipment of clothes from Bali and we had many wonderful things to choose from.

After that we drove over to Shelly's and Helena got a tour of his condo before the three of us went to the Old Word Deli for dinner. Shelly and I dropped off Helena and headed to my house where we watched another favorite movie of mine, "Duma," and had pie and ice cream for desert. Soon we will head off to sleep after a long day. I am tired but feeling mostly healed from my pneumonia. It was a lovely sunny day today which added to the pleasure of the day.