As a dedicated and passionate educator, advocate, researcher, writer, counselor, supporter, encourager, and someone who has walked firsthand through the journey of dementias and Alzheimer’s Disease with a loved one who spends a lot of waking hours – as well as many hours when I should be sleeping – devoted to making sure there is no lack of practical and usable information and resources available to those who are currently going through or will be going through this journey with their loved ones, it can often seem, with very little tangible feedback (I know people are reading the blog), that I’m wasting my time and just talking to myself.

But every time I start wondering “What’s the point? Nobody cares anyway.,” I remind myself that it’s worth it if only one other person on the planet obtains the help, the information, the encouragement, the empathy, or the “one person besides me gets this” they need.

On the other hand, it is encouraging once in a while to have someone tell you that the work you’re doing is appreciated. It means as much to have a fellow blogger whose own work is appreciated to consider what you provide a source of inspiration.

(None of us is in this for recognition and praise. We’re doing it because we’ve been there and we know what you’re dealing with if you’re there now or what all of those of you who will be dealing with dementias and Alzheimer’s Disease in the future will face.

We know what it’s like to have no information, no support, no help, no nothing and to have to figure out on our own. Our efforts are to not waste the pain, but to pay it forward so that others don’t have to face what we faced.

This is a labor of love and service for the rest of the human race that we are dedicating to providing to each of you.)

I was nominated for the “Very Inspiring Blog Award” by Kay Bransford who blogs in Dealing with Dementia about the journeys with her dad (now deceased) and her mom (living and progressing) through dementias and Alzheimer’s Disease.

It’s nice to be appreciated and I would like to repay the compliment to several other bloggers. The rules are simple:

• Thank and link to the amazing person who nominated you.
• List the rules and display the award.
• Share seven facts about yourself.
• Nominate 15 other amazing blogs and comment on their posts to let them know they have been nominated.
• Proudly display the award logo on your blog and follow the blogger who nominated you.

Seven facts about me:

1. My parents were both in the medical field, and although I excelled in and loved the biological sciences (especially genetics), to my dad’s dismay, I didn’t choose the medical profession as my career. Armed with a humanities degree (with practical minors in math and accounting) and a concrete plan to start my career in technical writing, I morphed into a full and expansive career in information technology.
2. My mom developed dementias (vascular and Lewy Body) and Alzheimer’s Disease right before my eyes, but I didn’t have the knowledge and the resources to put it all together until it was no longer undeniable. I don’t ever want there to be another person in the world who has to go through the rapid and, sometimes, hard catch up the way I did.
3. I am thankful that I was able to fulfill the circle of life for my mom, even though I made mistakes along the way, and, to the best of my ability, I was able to fulfill my promise to her that I would do everything within my power and control to ensure that her “second childhood was better than her first childhood.”
4. Being able to provide hands-on, side-by-side care for my mom – and to walk beside and with her every step of the way to the end – was a gift from God for which I am thankful. I’d do it all over again in a heartbeat.
5. I learned things about myself I needed to know as I walked the journey through dementias and Alzheimer’s Disease with my mom. I learned lessons that I could not have learned any other way.
6. In the course of the journey – and beyond – I changed and am continuing to change for the better and matured and continue to mature into a kinder, gentler, more patient, more forbearing, more forgiving, more understanding, and more compassionate version of myself. Although I still have miles to go before I sleep, this much-needed and long-overdue upgrade, with its fixes, patches, and, in some cases, start-from-scratch recoding put me further down this road of change than I was when I started.
7. God gave me the gift of being able to write. If there’s praise to be given, it belongs to Him. I am responsible for using this gift in a manner that is worthy of the One who gave it to me. To the best of my ability, I strive to do that with every word that I write wherever I write it.

The blogs I nominate are:

My Neighbor Miss D – Miss D’s neighbor Nancy blogs about dementia, elder abuse, and the importance of neighbors caring for neighbors who are alone in their journeys through dementias and Alzheimer’s Disease

Lewy Body Dementia: Ten Plus Years of Care, Commentary, and Cleaning Up. – Joy Walker offers humorous and information commentary on caregiving and Lewy Body dementia

The Long and Winding Road: A Journey Through Alzheimer’s Disease – Ann Napoletan blogs about her journey as a caregiver with her mom through Alzheimer’s Disease and also works as an advocate for Alzheimer’s Disease research

Dementia and Dominoes – Pam Stephan gets two nods in my nominations and this is the first, where she shares memories of her dad, who has dementia, and caregiving challenges and solutions

Dining with Dementia – Pam Stephan’s blog with fast and easy recipes for dementia caregivers and their loved ones

The Daily Goodbyes – Cia blogs about her life with her father, who has Alzheimer’s Disease

D 4 Dementia – Beth Britton is a UK blogger providing advocacy and information for caregivers

My Demented Mom – Compelling blog that chronicles the author’s mother’s journey through dementia to death and offers great information for others on this journey

Momma and Me – Arlene shares the story of her mom’s journey through Lewy Body dementia with compassion, humor, and wisdom

Portrait of a Morbid Optimist – Katryna Ormiston’s beautiful blog – her tagline is perfect: “finding love in death” – about caring for her father through his journey with dementia

Let’s Talk About Family – Lori’s blog journals the ups and downs of family life as children become caregivers for their parents with dementia

Story & History – Theresa Hupp’s fascinating combination of her family’s, including dementia, and her journey through life and the history that accompanies it appeals to the history lover in me

Reflections on Dementia, Caregiving, and Life in General – Written by a caregiver in Singapore, this blogger offers a personal, yet international, perspective on dementia and caregiving as she goes through this journey with her mom

Creating life with words: Inspiration, love and truth – Kate Swaffer’s blog is a must-read blog on dementia, family, and hope

Memories From My Life – Pat White’s blog about caring for her mom since her Alzheimer’s Disease diagnosis in 2007 is a topical, heartfelt, and compassion story of their journey together

Thank you, Kay, for nominating me. I appreciate it, my friend and fellow traveler on the journey through dementias and Alzheimer’s Disease.