All We Need Is Love ... Or At Least It Helps

All of this.

I belong to a Closed/Private Facebook Group "Early-onset/Young Alzheimers Female Spouses Caregiver Support Group." It is is a virtual, online Support Group. There are so many personal emotions and thoughts shared in a safe place: devastating heartbreak, joyous celebrations, comedic relief, survival techniques, complete hopelessness, utter desperation, timeless love, intense anger and and profound empathy. Our hashtag is #WeWalkThisTogether

The graphic above was posted in that Group today. Sometimes I am kinda embarrassed that Alzheimer's has brought out an approach to relationships that I could have and should have practiced without a brain disease as the driver. I do recognize that "should have" is dicey emotional ground and can lead to shame which is a spiral to negativity. I am well on my way to accomplishing most of the above with Tom. And some of those behaviors are slowly making their way into my other relationships.

This post is really about love. It is about meeting those we love where they are. It is about the brokenness that many of us harbor and figuring out how to get past it. It is about finding peace. I think #WeWalkThisTogether is what we all really need - right?

We share our very personal story because honesty pulls us together. It binds us. It shows that the human condition is there in all of us.

My sweet solace today is that Tom can write (he composed without any help!) me a love letter for my birthday:

And my love for Tom ... today I set him up outside with his laptop, pillows and covers to watch Temple-Emanu El's morning Shabbat service because I KNOW the rhythms, the sounds, the words and the prayers will ring familiar and make him happy.

I helped Tom set aside his broom and take a moment.

Listening to prayers as they are chanted in Hebrew in Live Facebook connection ...