This type of group can be an extremely valuable resource, heading off care-giver burn out. None of this is meant to deride the idea, the particular group or those who need it. Every case is different, every family deals with dementia differently. Dad has experienced the group and not found what he had hoped for out of. Please think of this in the spirit it is meant, as a release for the pent up feelings as a result of caring for Linda!
- posted by Eleanor
By James Sonley
I attended a Care Givers meeting and was thinking about raising the issue of the Family Restroom app. However, they started with a round table and almost everyone was in full whine/complaint mode about how impossible their lives are, they can’t cope and CCAC is helping. It seemed that most of them (12 I think attending) didn’t have anyone to talk with who would listen and just went on and on when they had an understanding ear. I felt out of place as I don’t think I have that problem. It didn’t seem to be the right time to raise the idea of the app.
Everything was so serious the memory humour below appealed greatly to me when I got if from Linda's cousin Ron.
Do elephants have a good memory?
In 1972, Joe Miller was on holiday in Kenya after graduating from Tulsa Junior College.
On a hike through the bush, he came across a young bull elephant standing with one leg raised in the air. The elephant seemed distressed, so Joe approached it very carefully. He got down on one knee, inspected the elephants foot, and found a large piece of wood deeply embedded in it. As carefully and as gently as he could, Joe worked the wood out with his knife, after which the elephant gingerly put down its foot.
The elephant turned to Joe, and with a rather curious look on its face, stared at him for several tense moments. Joe stood frozen, thinking of nothing else but being trampled.
Eventually the elephant trumpeted loudly, turned, and walked away. Joe never forgot that elephant or the events of that day.
Thirty years later, Joe was walking through the Tulsa Zoo with his family. As they approached the elephant enclosure, one of the creatures turned and walked over to near where Joe and his family were standing.
The large bull elephant stared at Joe, lifted its front foot off the ground, then put it down. The elephant did that several times, then trumpeted loudly, all the while staring at the man.
Remembering the encounter in 1972, Joe could not help wondering if this was the same elephant... Joe summoned up his courage, climbed over the railing, and made his way into the enclosure. He walked right up to the elephant and stared back in wonder.
The elephant trumpeted again, wrapped its trunk around one of Joe's legs and slammed him against the railing, killing him instantly.
Probably wasn't the same elephant.