Blog Listing

This is the second time I will go through the Holiday Season without my husband, Dennis, who passed away from Alzheimer’s in May of 2021. Sometimes called “the holiday blues,” people of all ages and especially those who have experienced a recent loss find November through January to be their loneliest time of year. Some people don't need a lot of social interaction to be happy and healthy. Others may have contact with friends and family members all the time and still feel alone. Loneliness happens when we feel socially isolated, and it can have a powerful impact on our mental health.

This blog was meant to be. I’m writing it on Veteran’s Day, at the mouth of Utah’s famous Cottonwood Canyons on the first day of the 2022 ski season, in a veteran-owned coffee shop that donates free coffee to troops all over the world.

In Sept. 2022, my granddaughter, Kyra, asked me to join her in a local (Sandy, Utah) “Alzheimer’s Association Walk to End Alzheimer’s®.” World Alzheimer’s Day is Sept. 21st. One of Kyra’s fellow employees had recently lost her husband to Alzheimer’s, and the company was sponsoring a “Team” of walkers...

At the urging of my wise and humorous husband, Lee, and to deflect or distract from minor pains or hurts, our family always played “Which is Worse?” For instance, during a boy-cousins’ sleepover with grandpa, a 9-year-old grandson can be found panicking in the bathroom nursing a bloody nose and lamenting, “Grandpa, I’m hemorrhaging!” You cuddle the victim and give needed first aid. To settle things down even more, you demonstrate and initiate a round of “Which is Worse?”

The time has come to downsize and move out of our home. It’s something we should have done five years ago, but procrastination came into play, mostly due to the one-of-a kind view we have from our backyard deck. The expansive 180-degree panorama includes West Valley, the airport, downtown Salt Lake City, the state capitol, University of Utah campus, Mt. Olympus, and Big Cottonwood Canyon. All in one turn of the head.