Pauli Pedersen and her family memoir "Rivers of Dementia"
Nov 15, 2023 5:16 am
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Hello ,
Around four p.m. a couple of days after Halloween, I was working at my “desk” (the kitchen counter) when the doorbell rang. Wondering who it might be, I peeked through the window and saw a man standing on my stoop. He carried a plastic grocery sack. Clean-cut, he didn’t appear threatening, but still I hesitated. I had no idea who he was or what he might be selling. A crime wave had accosted our small city with the deaths of four people in three different incidents within the past week. Did I really want to open my door to this stranger? I peeked again. He was still there, so I gulped, made an executive decision, and opened the door.
“Hello,” he said, “I’m a neighbor from down the street." I did not recognize him, but nodded, and waited for him to continue. “My daughter was ill on Halloween.”
“Oh, I’m sorry,” I answered.
“Well, I wonder if I might leave some of this candy with you so that we could come back to trick or treat. She’s only three, so I don’t think it will occur to her that it’s no longer Halloween.”
I felt my heart go out to this young father. “Oh, of course! I would love to have her come to my door to trick or treat!”
He thanked me as he handed me the candy. Nodding, he walked on to the next house to hopefully enlist another neighbor in his scheme.
What a devoted daddy! How could I resist?
A couple of hours later, after it had gotten dark, my doorbell rang and I peeked out before I opened the door. Sure enough, standing before me was a little girl dressed as a princess, sporting a brightly colored and striped unicorn horn on top of her head. Next to her stood a second little person, disguised as the recent TV character “Wednesday.” They were surrounded by three adults, one of them the aforementioned daddy, also all in costume.
“Tick or teat!” the two little ones spoke in unison. Kneeling down to fully take in their costumes, I dutifully placed the candy in each of their bags. The little unicorn was as adorable as can be and rattled off an entire paragraph of words. I looked up to one of the women and said, “I have no idea what she just said to me.” Laughing, she said, “Neither do I, and she's my daughter, but I think you’ve made her very happy!”
I’d come so close to not opening my door to this neighbor, and would have missed this wonderful little slice of love, right on my very own doorstep.
Paraphrasing the words of Helen Keller . . . It’s important to keep your face turned toward the sun. When we focus on the positive and have hope in ourselves and the world, amazing things can happen.
Vicki T
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Today, we have the pleasure of meeting AlzAuthor Pauli Pedersen, who introduces us to her memoir, River of Dementia. Pauli shares her family’s story, interwoven with the downward spiral of her father’s dementia.
In Pauli's words:
With a degree in English, I had always wanted to write. When I was younger, I lamented the fact that I had no good stories. I dabbled, but during college, teaching, and raising five children, time flew by. Then came Dad’s battle with dementia. That was a story I needed to pass on, and I realized I held lots of other family history that required memorializing. Everything would be lost after I was gone. Dad’s life ran through it all. I had a colorful tapestry to weave.
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Our Most Recent Podcast
It was a thrill and an honor to talk with director Cynthia Stone and producer Caroline Prioleau, the creative minds and activists behind the film “Keys, Bags, Names, Words.” We heard from viewers, too, who shared how the film had impacted their lives providing comfort, hope and encouragement. In our show notes and in the podcast, we’ve also provided information on how you can organize a screening of this important film. Have a listen!
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Triple Your Support During National Family Caregivers Month
Donations for Custom Caregiver Collections will be Matched up to $2500
AlzAuthors is excited to support family caregivers every month. But during the month of November, National Family Caregivers Month, we are tripling the impact of your gift to us! For every dollar you donate towards our Custom Caregiver Collections, two anonymous donors will each match these funds (up to a total of $2,500). So, a $100 donation will be worth $300! When someone receives a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s or dementia, the whole family is affected. Each person is suddenly thrust onto a new and difficult path. Our books provide a handrail for the journey with practical advice, hope and inspiration. Over the past 18 months, AlzAuthors has placed these valuable collections in care homes, senior centers, memory cafes, university settings and professional libraries. Your donation will help us share these important resources with more caregivers. Simply click the Donate button below.
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An Appeal from Lynda Everman for the Alzheimer's Stamp
Kathy Siggins and I are delighted to share that the US Postal Service is featuring the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Semipostal stamp on its landing page for November. (Click https://www.usps.com and scroll down.) As you may know, November is designated as both National Alzheimer’s Disease Awareness and National Family Caregivers Month. The Alzheimer’s stamp provides us with an easy and inexpensive means to raise awareness and more importantly, critical funds for NIH funded research to advance prevention, better treatments, and a cure. Each sheet of stamps purchased delivers $3.80 to the NIH with more than $1.5 million being raised to date.
We can’t help but think that if each of our 11.5 million unpaid family caregivers were to order just one sheet of stamps, that alone would raise over $43 million for dementia research! This month, in honor or in memory of a loved one with dementia, please order your stamps online or at your post office (if available) to use on all your mail or to give as gifts. And please be sure to share this message in your newsletters, blogs and on social media. Together, we can help #StampOutAlzheimers!
Lynda Everman and Kathy Siggins conducted a multi-year national campaign for a semipostal (awareness and fundraising) stamp for Alzheimer’s research. As a result of their efforts, the first ever Alzheimer’s Disease Research Semipostal Stamp was released by the US Postal Service in November 2017. As of the end of September 2023, more than 11 million Alzheimer's stamps have been sold, bringing the total revenue raised to more than $1.5 million. Lynda is an editor and contributor to Seasons of Caring: Meditations for Alzheimer’s and Dementia Caregivers. She and her husband, Dr. Don Wendorf, have served as editors for The Leader’s Guide for Seasons of Caring and Treasure for Alzheimer’s, both written by Dr. Richard Morgan. They served as Senior Editors for Dementia-friendly Worship: A Multi-faith Handbook for Chaplains, Clergy and Faith Communities and co-authored Stolen Memories: An Alzheimer’s Stole Ministry and Tallit Initiative.
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Our friend Elizabeth Miller at Happy Healthy Caregiver shared this info on a promising brain health webinar in her weekly newsletter. Presented by Dr. Vonetta Dotson, a neuropsychologist, author, and speaker. She is Founder and President of CerebroFit Integrated Brain Health (www.CerebroFit.org), Professor of Psychology and Gerontology at Georgia State University, and Senior Project Scientist at NASA. She is also a fellow of the American Psychological Association’s Society for Clinical Neuropsychology. Her career has focused on teaching, providing clinical care and conducting research related to brain health and aging. Her new start-up, CerebroFit, applies her expertise in brain health to the community, providing services to empower people to live a brain-healthy lifestyle. Her new book, Keep Your Wits about You: The Science of Brain Maintenance as You Age, also offers science-based facts and practical tools to help readers develop healthy lifestyles to optimize their brain health. Hosted by The Society of Certified Senior Advisors (SCSA).
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Caregiver Month Gifts for You
November is National Family Caregivers Month! In honor of family caregivers caring for a loved one with dementia we’re offering FREE copies of our audiobook “Alzheimer’s and Dementia Caregiving Stories: 58 authors share their inspiring personal experiences” to US and UK subscribers while they last. Please email alzauthors@gmail.com to request a copy. Ebooks are also available worldwide. Click here for an ebook. Paperback copies are available on Amazon.
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