The dementia caregivers support group met at Barney’s Family Restaurant for the last time. We appreciate their letting us meet there for the last several months. So now we have a new venue to hold our group meetings. Lenard’s, located in the former Holiday Inn, will be running his restaurant, which he has opened for several weeks and now has agreed to give us private space for our group. This will be great for us.
Our last meeting was not well attended as the weather was not good. So we hope to have a better day this time.
This time of year we all think of our loved one’s that are now gone. Plus the fact so many more people in our community are trying to cope with taking care of their loved ones. This is why we continue to keep our group going as we all want to help and encourage all the families that are going through this long journey. It is not easy; just the fact to place your loved ones in a facility is one of the hardest decisions in your life. But it often turns out if you hesitate, and mostly it concerns money issues; you, the caretaker, will end up with your own health problems.
Powerful tools for caregivers are: take care of yourself; reduce personal stress; communicate feelings, needs and concerns; communicate challenging situations; learn from our emotions; master caregiving decisions; communicate with your family.
Hope all of you have a wonderful holiday season and God bless each and every one of you.
Our next meeting will be at 11:30 a.m. Jan. 6 at Lenard’s.
