A friend asked me recently, “how can you do that work when you have so many people die?”She is correct; my team and I regularly spend our workdays with folks who are living through their final season of life. And we often remain in their lives until they breathe their last. Since December 1 of 2020, four of the people…
Have you ever tried to help your loved one with dementia make sense of their finances? Ever tried to get them to see why they should stop driving? Tried to help them understand and accept why they need help in their home, with their home, and with managing their day-to-day? I spoke with a woman the other day. She is…
Getting it right with dementia is what I have the privilege of doing each day. But it is also very personal for me, and the heart behind my efforts on behalf of those living with dementia. I’ve written about my Grandmother before, in my blog titled, “She Loved Life”. In that blog, I spoke about what she meant to me,…
In sitting down to pen this blog today, the most predominant feeling is that of gratitude. Humble gratitude for the good of today, of this season, and especially for the good of what we do as the Better People Care team. So thank you, and we rest in these moments of gratitude: To God, who made Better People Care an…
My Grandmother’s headstone, resting in the High Butte Cemetery where the sun rises over Chimney Rock reads, “She loved life”. My Grandmother grew up in a sod house in the panhandle of Western Nebraska on land that her father and his three brothers homesteaded. I stand on this land now and wonder how they ever made sod “bricks” for their…
When the end of life grows closer, we often ponder the essence of life. Being closer to the end of life is a regular context within the work we do with folks who are older and often living with chronic health issues. And I wonder, could we (as a society) not be seeing the forest for the trees? Could it…
My friend Dottie. I’ve written about her before. She recently turned 97 years old and I was honored to be with her that day…when her family and beloved friends were not able to be with her because of Covid restrictions. The sad reality is that few residents of senior living facilities have regular visits from family and beloved friends. But…
This is my beautiful friend Carol. I have had the honor of being her friend for just a bit more than a year. She is a remarkable woman. A survivor, a Mom, a nurse, a musician. A friend and a partner. A protector and provider for animals in need of care. She loves to tell me the story of being…
On a hot Summer night in Lincoln, Nebraska, when the darkness had made the heat more bearable, I went for a run. I was thirteen years old, and it was the first time I had ever run for the point of running. My Dad was headed out for one of his usual runs that night, and he invited me along. …
