I'm Signed Up For Up North

Lake Harriet, MN

Drama is the name of the new mini series coming to our family life. It has come to the point where I have offered to leave the beautiful Florida Sunshine, and journey Up North to stay for an extended period in Minnesota. There is snow on the ground, I'm told. It is not melting. It is cold, and probably cloudy, grey and windy. I remember it well. But at least I have a beach vacation in December back in FL to look forward too.

I have signed up to help be a caregiver for an elderly patient that has health issues. I'm going to try to protect their privacy so that I am free to write about my feelings and experiences. If you know our family well enough to know the specifics then you'll figure it all out, but I'm not going to go into the details of the ailments here. It's not my place. One of the things I've realized before I even head up north is that this will be difficult and full of potential conflict.

The patient told me last night that they don't want anyone else telling them what to do. They are sick of people telling them what to do. Well, there goes my plan. I was hoping to help create a routine in their schedule, involve some exercise and make sure physical therapy is completed. There is also a need to do some mental stimulation. The trick is to get the patient to do something, without telling them to do it.

One thing I am looking forward to is not having to work for a month. I look forward to using this time to write and plan for the upcoming year. It will be challenging, but my hope is provide some much needed relief to current caregivers and bring a little joy back into their lives as a family, while we're all still here.