Over the years I have frequently reflected on the importance of memories: how they are roses in December, precious gifts to brighten our years as we age. With my mother’s Alzheimer’s and dementia diagnosis, I’ve also been reflecting on forgetting, how terrible it can be. But recently I have found myself recognizing that there is […]
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Chances are you are familiar with the stereotypical faces of Alzheimer’s – empty gaze, lack of recognition of friends and family, incontinence. But there are so many more faces of Alzheimer’s, each as unique as the person behind the face. Personal Experience with Alzheimer’s In my twelve years as chaplain at a retirement community, I […]
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This past week I read the Facebook post by Fr. James Martin about the passing of his friend and mentor, Sr. Martha Buser. I have never met Sr. Martha (nor have I met Fr. James Martin though I follow him on X, aka Twitter) but I was inspired by her, in particular by what she […]
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We are bodily spirits. I’ve often read of the need for the body and spirit to align. We are told we need to listen to our bodies as well as our spirit. But what do you do when your body and spirit go in opposite directions? The Spirit is Willing … I don’t want to […]
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Mom stood there, holding onto her walker, agitated, afraid, lost, unwilling to sit down. “Sit down, Mom. We’re fixing snacks,” I tell her but she doesn’t sit down. “Where am I?” she repeats. When I try to explain, she keeps saying, “I don’t understand.” I tell her, “We’re at Vista,” Mom’s retirement community. However it […]
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In my thirties and forties, I remember encouraging others to start preparing for their retirement, not just financially, but mentally and spiritually. Everyone ages, but not everyone ages with grace. You can’t expect to reach sixty or seventy or eighty, and become magically gracious, kind, loving and wise, if you never practiced any of these […]
Read More There are days I feel like a worn-out piece of clothing, worse for wear but not ready to be thrown away just yet. Like everyone and everything on this earth, I am getting older and with that territory comes a certain amount of wear and tear. I struggle with indigestion, me, whose favorite lunch used […]
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Do birthdays get better as we get older? Instead of a birth “day” some years, I have a birth “week”, finding fun ways to celebrate all week. Psalm 92 offers words of hope to all of us as we grow older; that we aren’t just getting older, we are getting better. Psalm 92 A hymn […]
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Anyone who knows anything about Shakespeare, knows that his comedies end in marriages and his tragedies in death—not just one death but multiple deaths. I’ve studied King Lear in college and seen other productions. I know how it ends, yet, during this year’s production of King Lear at the Michigan Shakespeare Festival, I found myself […]
Read More Getting old is not for sissies, the residents of my mom’s retirement community told me on numerous occasions, quoting Bette Davis. The writer of Psalm 71 knows something about this. Psalm 71 The author of Psalm 71 is an old man. His hair is gray, “So even to old age and gray hairs, O God, […]
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