These are not new thoughts to me. But now I find they’re guiding me in ways I wouldn’t have imagined.

We’re glad she seems generally healthy. But sometimes we grow weary with figuring out the diseases daily damaging her brain.

How is this moment preparing me for the opportunities to come? What will they be, and will I be ready? While dealing with today, I do well to think about tomorrow.

Finally! I have quit talking about a task I was dreading. I’m struck by how I never anticipated I would do this.

Rather than deny my advance (or is it slide?) toward 80, I’ve decided to pause and take stock of what I’m learning about life from this crossroads.

I’ve sometimes been surprised by what we’re experiencing and what I’m learning. But the bottom line is a good report.

Another Alzheimer’s caregiver I know kept a journal at first, with notes and stories he thought he might share sometime.“But after a while I didn’t have as much to write,” he said. Not that much was changing. Not that much was new. That’s how it is with me now.

Three of my conclusions that seem worth sharing with a new caregiver: ‘Seize the day.’ ‘Claim your mission.’ ‘Move forward.’

I certainly wouldn’t have predicted all that 2024 contained. So I’ll not hazard many guesses about what we'll see in 2025.

Christmas is different this year—again! But there was nothing typical about the first Christmas, either.

I’m engaged with Evelyn every day in one way or another. And yet in many ways, I’m living my life without her. It’s a surreal valley, and I’m trying not to stumble.

I needed a friend to help me cope with my guilt about what I was feeling.

‘Nothing new’ is my report for the week, and I’m quite happy to write about it.

Accommodating change is our weekly challenge. I know this. Why does it still shock me?

We live in an age of constant change, even though our instinct is to resist it. But for caregivers like me, facing change is a weekly challenge.

What is really changing in the deterioration happening before our eyes? And what will never change? A thoughtful question led me to ponder issues beyond what I’m seeing today.

Different is the category for every aspect of our life right now. Christmas will simply fit the pattern.

Another reunion with friends we’ve known for decades prompts so many memories, along with reflection on all that’s changed.

The small or sometimes not-so-small changes in our routine continue to mount up.

We’re glad to see her again, but I’ve decided I just can’t give Christmas all she may want from me. And that’s OK.