Keep Laughing.
We all know the importance of humor and how it helps us stay healthy. Even though dementia and Alzheimer’s represent horrid struggles of memory loss and personality change, we can still look for the humor and keep laughing.
My family lives on an Oklahoma farm where the wind comes sweepin’ down the plains and the wavin’ wheat…well, you get the picture.
Every year, my brother fattens up a steer so that we can butcher it for the fresh meat. Then we all share the tasty, lean, without-chemicals-or-hormones beef. We have learned to keep the steer nameless and try not to pet him or bond with him. It’s difficult to chew on something when you have a personal relationship to it.
Last year after we butchered, Mom called me and said, “I can’t eat all this meat. Come and get some.”
Gratefully, I drove to the farm, loaded up my cooler and brought that wonderful fresh beef back to Kansas.
About a month later, Mom called again. This time she said, “You know, I’m going to have to put a lock on my freezer. Someone stole half my meat.”
We just have to keep laughing.