Posted 6/8/23
…yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. -James 4:14
Where does all of the time go? I know the science…it is pretty darn consistent. However, especially since Covid, time is on “>> mode” it seems to me. Take the following examples:
- I just celebrated the 35th anniversary of my “first date”-ish with my wife yesterday (long story). We typically play putt putt on 6/6 every year…and we have now around 25-30 times on that day if I was guessing…
- I am coming up on 7 years with SeniorAge and 20 in IT. Blink of an eye and I go from Windows 95 to Windows 11 and beyond. From Clippy to ChatGPT. From DOS to…uhhh…everything.
- My oldest daughter has now been married longer than my wife and I was when we had her. She is coming up on 30, BTW…
- Of the Sweet 17, only 1 plus mom is still with us. 🙁 Only mom and Mrs. S are left. Terrible disease 🙁 Oh, but don’t worry…the memory unit and mom’s new hall are full of new Sweet 17 candidates, but none compare to the original band of sisters.
- 423 days since CMS made their blanket pronouncement that all drugs made using Monoclonal Antibodies (-MABs), FDA-approval/VA/our significant protests/letters from Congress be darned, will NOT be covered by Medicare without going to a one of a few large cities and attempting to get into a clinical study. 2000 people per day have fallen out of eligibility since then! That totals 846,000, enough to be the 16th largest city in the US, just nudging out Fort Worth Texas!
Where does this time go? More importantly, how do we fix this obvious time warp?
Here are a few thoughts from someone who is not great at it (Do as I say, not as I do) :
- Breathe. Relax, even for a few minutes. Get some sun…not too much, especially with the Canadian wildfire sky apocalypse happening…but we need the sun.
- Be mindful of the day, the week, and the month. Celebrate the past. Even on Facebook memories, don’t grimace when something that isn’t ideal shows up. Embrace the good from them and remember that good comes from even bad things in many ways in shaping us to be more like the Lord. Romans 8:28-30 comes to mind…
- Get enough sleep. I know it seems counterproductive to some and unthinkable to others…but if you can’t sleep enough, get help. Find a sitter/home health option that can help. Call the Area Agency on Aging and the Alzheimer’s Association.
- Learn something new. Sometimes taking up a new hobby can be challenging, but it is great for the brain as you slowly but surely grow in this skill. 🙂
- Other ideas, friends? I welcome suggestions!
I wish I could just manually slow things down a bit. I am a fixer at heart and it rubs me the wrong way when my fixing doesn’t work. Such is life these days…
Thank you for being you. 🙂
#EndALZ
Update: Mom is about the same. I fed her supper a couple times this week and missed one because the day flew by so fast I arrived late and they beat me to it. She is still very sleepy. She has always had trouble with her eyes stinging and I think the wildfires are exacerbating that. Very frustrating for her and for us alike.
My event is coming along well. Almost to $500 raised on a $5280 goal…but the best is yet to come there. 🙂 We are selling shirts now that can be shipped as well. If you want one, shoot me an email to mark.applegate@senioragemo.org and I will connect you to Jessica who will ship it if you are not in SW Missouri. 🙂 I will be selling 5 copies of The 36 Hour Day soon that are each autographed by the author. They were very nice to send those to use for promoting this cause. 🙂 I am also working on a baked goods sale next week as we march up to day 1 on 6/19 in KC. 🙂 Any you can donate would be greatly appreciated. 🙂 All profit from the shirts go to the Longest Day event as well. Thank you thank you thank you!!!
Donation link: https://act.alz.org/site/TR?px=14575499&fr_id=16164&pg=personal
Contact me for shirt payment and shopping info. 🙂