I would love for all of you who make it to my site to say “hello” by adding comments to any of my blog categories – -

1) my “general” blog

2) my “I love” section  – share what you love whether it’s something that make you happy or something you enjoy doing with a loved one with dementia

3) my “minimizing risk of AD? section

Thanks!

I think it’s so important —  to learn how to take care of ourselves – - to maximize our health by making crucial lifestyle choices.  I am so grateful for social media – - it’s a great way for us to share what we have learned and learn more!

If you haven’t checked out twitter yet, I suggest you do.  And, an easy way to start out is to 1) register on twitter.com and 2) go to mashable.com and check out their Twitter Guide.

Have fun – - follow people interested in what you are interested in…and holistically inclined people who tweet about Alzheimers are those I’ll be following (in addition to the social media folks and the news folks.

My twitter “handle” is my name:  lydiaburdick.

Take care…

You are welcome to share your ideas here, and I’ll have much more to say about this topic soon.  It’s an exciting topic and one I look forward to exploring with you!

In Savannah for a wedding.  A June wedding.  As, true to my words in my second Two-Lap Book, Happy New Year to You!, I do love to go to weddings in June.

This wedding was that of the son of my dear friend and colleague, Marian Sulenski and her husband, Russ Ditzel.

The wedding was gorgeous, the happy couple ecstatic, and the dancing was very fun!

I had never been to Savannah before, and have been enjoying, in no particular order:  green-friend tomatoes, gumbo, Arnold Palmers (unsweetened tea and lemonade – my new drink of choice), Spanish moss hanging down from almost every tree, and gardenia bushes.  The humidity…not so much.

Writing this at the Galaxy Cafe…big comfy chairs everywhere, wooden tables and chairs scattered around, my kind of music softly on the sound system, great Arnold Palmers (my third today)…wish I had this kind of place on the Upper West Side of Manhattan!  I’m going to look for places like this when I get back…I like thinking and writing and drinking Arnold Palmers in this kind of environment!  Any suggestions?

Later, y’all…

I got to thinking, what was it about Rue and all the “girls” that had us fans describe the show as: heartwarming, loving, fun, honest, real…and caring?  Well, I think it was that while the characters were all so very different, they truly did care about each other, as family.  And, no matter how angry they got each other from time to time, they always resolved it.  They apologized when appropriate, and always, always, always kissed and made up before they went to bed…like caring families do.  They let us in on all of it, we were watching the show, after all

True, they weren’t caring for someone with dementia, although I read recently that “Ma,” Estelle Getty, had advanced dementia at the end of her life, but they loved and cared for and about each other so magnificently, didn’t they?

I love the feeling I always get of being included when I watch the show… and Rue (Blanche Deveraux)’s passing last week had me stop in my tracks.  I was so sad to learn of her passing…I felt like I had lost a friend.   I was in mourning for a woman I had never meet, but had grown to love for portraying a character with a big heart and and bigger sassy attitude…who had become part of my world.

One of the best pick-me-ups I know and I can recommend as guaranteed when life/caregiving/etc. get you down is to watch those Golden Girls reruns, and feel the love…

Rue, and Bea, and Estelle…you are missed…love you ,Betty, and thank you all so very much…

This blog was written by Milt Freudenheim and was featured in The New Old Age blog.

Freudenheim wrote that in addition to familiar music “engage those with Alzheimer’s when almost nothing else can, researchers have shown… it appears that books written for these patients may have a similar effect.”

 “All of my research demonstrates that people who were literate maintain their ability to read until the end stages of dementia,” said Michelle S. Bourgeois, a professor of speech and hearing science at Ohio State University.

Dr. Barry Reisberg, professor of psychiatry and director of the Fisher Alzheimer’s program at New York UniversityCaregivers may be surprised to learn that reading ability is not always destroyed by Alzheimer’s.  Dr. Michelle S. Bourgeois, professor of speech and hearing at Ohio State University says that “All of my research demonstrates that people who were literate maintain their ability to read until the end stages of dementia,” said Michelle S. Bourgeois, a professor of speech and hearing science at Ohio State University.

At the earlier stages of Alzheimer’s disease, many literate patients may still enjoy reading books themselves, said Dr. Barry Reisberg, a professor of psychiatry and director of the Fisher Alzheimer’s program at New York University. Large-type reading materials can be used to assist later-stage Alzheimer’s patients to continue reading.