From the desk of Rosemary Laird, MD
Founder of Navigating Aging Needs (NAN), LLC
A Lesson from Dolly Parton
I felt a pang in my heart when I heard about the passing of Dolly Parton. She not only was a “national treasure” and a spectacular entertainer and songwriter, but by all accounts she was also a warm, loving, and decent human being.
She was also a caregiver. She took care of her husband during a multi-year illness until he died in 2025. And in a recent video, she admitted that she wished that she had looked after herself more during that time. As she put it, “I let a lot of things go that I should have been taking care of.”
Keeping an Open "Beginner's Mind"
Alzheimer’s disease is characterized by changes and unpredictability, and so thinking you “already know everything” about something might lead to bouts of frustration. Keeping an open mind can help you keep your balance.
Keeping Your Balance
For a caregiver of a loved one suffering from Alzheimer's, you are continually challenged to find the balance between sadness and joy, between being present and long-term planning, and between caring for your loved one and caring for yourself. That’s not always easy, but your NAN navigator is here to help you maintain your equilibrium.
Finding Your Balance
For a caregiver of a loved one suffering from Alzheimer’s, life can sometimes feel totally out of balance. There are day-to-day issues to take care of, the occasional crisis to handle, and the relentless progression of the disease to cope with.
Staying With It!
Caregivers of loved ones with Alzheimer’s are not playing a game, of course, but this lesson from the court is very apt: Each day you are going to have some wins, and you are going to have some losses. And your success will be measured by how well you can stay with it and continue your very strenuous, sometimes very frustrating, but in the end very rewarding journey of caregiving.
The Longest Day!
June 20th marks the Summer Solstice in the Northern Hemisphere, the astronomical event where the earth’s axis of rotation tilts closest to the sun, resulting in our longest day and shortest night of the year.