Happy 2017 from Dementialand! New year. New blog layout.

If you are one of my regular blog readers, you likely have dementia or love someone with dementia. I am not going to feed you some bullcrap about becoming a better version of yourself or making 2o17 the best year ever. You know I’m not about rainbows and unicorns. I’ll leave those inspirational flowery quotes to Pinterest.

Maybe you’re in a place where 2017 can be the best year ever, and maybe you see some challenges ahead. Maybe you see your life changing in front of your eyes, and survival is your goal. I won’t pretend to know where you’re at as 2016 ends.

For those of you in the trenches of Alzheimer’s or a related dementia, it may seem laughable for me to wish you a smooth path, so I won’t. My wish for you is that you have the strength to endure the journey and that you know when to ask for help. My hope is that you have a sense of humor to carry you through and a keen enough eye to spot joy even when it’s subtle. I don’t know how you cope with stress, but I hope your coping skills are up to the challenge. I don’t care if you turn to Jesus, wine (in small amounts–not large), yoga, or a support group. Whatever you do, I hope it works for you.

I wish you hope, even if hope has changed. Maybe you used to hope you could grow old and travel around the world with your spouse. Now you find hope when they smile as you walk into their room at the nursing home. I wasn’t what you pictured, but it’s something. Don’t lose hope. Change your definition of hope.

Happy New Year, my friends. I’ll be continuing to attempt to lose the same 10 pounds I’ve been committed to losing for the last three years. I’ll remain committed to the same weight loss excuses. I also plan to institute a bedtime, which I will adhere to for about two weeks but then ditch because–hey–real life.