Posted on the 8 year anniversary of the Joplin Tornado May 22nd, 2011 seems like an eternity ago, even in my world in which time lurches forward quite quickly sometimes. It was a Sunday. I remember getting out of evening church and seeing ominous storms bearing down on our little town, a town that knows…
Author: Mark Applegate
Christian, husband, and dad...and a workplace chiropractic geek and cornbread chef on the side. I am also happily the Director of Systems Alignment for the SeniorAge Area Agency on Aging.
The Five Love Languages with Dementia in Mind
Posted 5-21-19 If you are one of the people 12 people in America that have NOT read Gary Chapman’s 1995 book (or subsequent variations) “The Five Love Languages: How to Express Heartfelt Commitment to Your Mate”, this piece may make a little less sense than it normally makes…and that says something. Allow me, as a…
Fear in Caregiving
Posted 5-20-19 “You know what’s wrong with ‘Merica???”. (The 1600+ subscribers to the cornbread table all roll eyes their in unison and surf Oprah instead….) Answer: Fear! Fear!! Fear!!! As the enigmatic president Roosevelt said in his 1932 speech: “So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have…
The Pompousless Circumstances Surrounding Mom & the Sweet 17
Posted Graduation Day, 5-19-19 This weekend marks(ed) graduation weekend for hundreds of thousands of high school and college students throughout this great land. Long speeches and visions of wild success and grandeur (or perhaps freedom) streamed like Netflix reruns throughout football fields and gyms everywhere. One thing is also for certain: The familiar-to-Americans-part of “Pomp…
It’s the Little Things
Posted 5-18-19 Had an extended visit with my numero uno mom today. 🙂 She is still doing great, especially for someone on hospice. She even mentioned my wife’s name, asking how she is doing. That is a first in almost as long as it has been since she said my name! This sequence means that…
Mom’s Memory Unit is Full of Peanuts
Posted 5-17-19 I find it fun to occasionally compare different Sweet 17 members to famous people from Hollywood, especially since they are all, in my semi-humble opinion, leading-lady-quality sweethearts…and all I really am is a minimally-helpful paparazzi. It occurred to me yesterday that another workable comparison would be my favorite childhood cartoon, The Peanuts. Just…
The Paradox of Joy
Posted 5-16-19 Yesterday, not 48 hours after scheduling our initial hospice visit for my mom, she did the unthinkable: she had a great day!! The best in 2 months… at least. The false-hope-screaming-kind-of good day. She said at least 20 complete, intelligible sentences, some 19.5 more than she has said the last 2 months. At…
Mom, the Neck Wringer
Posted 5-15-19 “Mom is going to wring my neck!” whimpered an Applegate child hundreds of times after some nondescript/stupid thing we had done. (Editor’s note: Mom was (somewhat oddly) fond of telling the story of the first time she saw her frail, dainty momma “wring the neck” of a chicken at the farm. –Disclaimer: if…
Death, Denial, and Doris Day
Posted 5-14-19 When I was just a little girl I asked my mother what will I be Will I be pretty will I be rich Here’s what she said to me: Que Sera Sera Whatever will be will be The future’s not ours to see Que Sera Sera What will be will be When I…
Guilty as Charged
Posted 5-13-19