Happy New Year

Something I like most about the holidays is hearing from everyone through Christmas Cards. I know a lot of people have stopped sending cards in favor of electronic greetings. But I love seeing the photo cards that come in the mail and can't believe seeing everyone's children or grandchildren growing up so fast. And, I like hearing about what everyone has done the past year. Staying connected with people is important to me. And, I appreciate the cards I get each year --that people are still willing to keep in touch with me. Then, out of the blue, I'll get a phone call from someone I haven't heard from in a very long time. That happened again yesterday, when Patty Smith called me from Falls Church Virginia. Patty was on the Alzheimer's Association Early Stage Advisory group several years ago. Patty and her husband were also the driving force behind the Alzheimer's Association getting a multi million dollar grant from the American Express company for the Alz. Association. How nice it was to talk to Patty and hear her voice. That meant a lot to me. I also heard from other former advisory members over the holidays that I haven't heard from in awhile.

The holidays were a little more trying for me this year. I think a lot played into it, but I must do a better job of pacing myself, as well as not trying to get so overwhelmed. The latter is a little harder to do because you never know when one of those simple projects you start, are going to turn into something different -- thus the result is not so good. But, I guess I need to relish in the fact that I cans till do so much -- although not happy with the outcome much of the time.

My son and daughter-in-law were here over the holidays. I'm sure you have figured out that is them above. It was nice to have them home. I really appreciate the effort they take to get here -- with traveling during the holidays. Luckily the snow we got in Georgia and the snow up the east coast didn't get them stranded anywhere with the times they were flying.

The new year brings on lots of new challenges for me. I think I need to look at them more as opportunities to keep me going.

Thanks to the UGA Pyschology class I spoke to for the lovely note they sent to me after speaking to their group. One of my followers asked what type of questions they asked. Some wanted to know if I still drove, how did I deal with the fact that I could no longer do things I once did everyday. I shared with them how I had a difficult time crossing the streets in large cities because of all the signals flashing at once and this was a little hard for them to understand. And, when I told them how difficult it was for me to talk on the phone and that I relied heavily on email and they asked if I was able to utilitze all the new technology with smart phones, texting and the like. I told them that I had a hard time learning new things and had a difficult time with all the new "lingo or abbreviations" they used now! Although, my old phone does not have a regular keyboard -- I'm still relying on the phone key pad and that takes me forever to text a message to someone. It's interesting to hear the questions that the students ask. The older students have a different perspective on things. Most everyone in the classes I speak to though have known or do know someone with Alzheimer's so they can relate in some way to what I am saying. I think the most awkward question was when someone asked me how Alzheimer's affected my sex life!

Happy New Year to all!