Sheri knows she is suffering from depression and anxiety. She takes medication for this and wants others that are struggling to know it is ok to talk about it. She has been attending a grief counseling group, (well at least when the frozen tundra has been safe enough to go out in lol) She wakes up every morning and puts one foot in front of the other …. just like so many other people in the world, all for different reasons.She had surgery last week, and in her week recovery time at home she spent too much time watching headlines of the news. Sheri had to remind herself over and over that God is in control. She has turned the TV off .. she is determined to survive the aftermath of caregiving. She is going to refocus on living one day at a time and doing her best to live in Gods Word, the Comforter of all stress, depression and anxiety.
Sheri needs to Pause, Praise and Pray.

Sheri is wondering if others that have survived "living in the shadow of Alzheimer's" have experienced the awareness of physical issues with in themselves that seem to be surfacing out of nowhere? It is hard for Sheri to believe she would have ignored all these small miscellaneous health issues if she had seen them in the past. Sheri thinks it may be because the "shadow "is fading back into the light and things that were hidden are a little more visible.
Sheri needs to Pause, praise and pray.

Sheri finds it hard to believe that the same seven months could hold so much sadness and so much joy all at the same time. Welcome to the world Sheri's first grandchild... Elsie Rose :)  Beautiful way to start the new year. God is good.

Living in the shadow of Alzheimers

One more day. Sheri knows every day is a blessing, but she will be really glad when 2018 comes to close.
Sheri needs to Pause, Praise and Pray.

Living in the Shadow of Alzheimers

If ever there was a season that holds the emotions too near
It's the season of "holy jolly," the season of Christmas cheer.

Yet I am one among many, for whom the season is confettied with tears
The pain and the strife of everyday life has  many left deep wounds through the year.

Yet we all have so much in common, we share pain we share hope and despair
We are in fact "going through the motions", it is just hidden in "Happy New Year".

Each day that goes by Sheri sees people hurting all around her. She can't help thinking about all the people that are plucked from this world daily. They disappear, their loved ones mourn, there is gathering at the funeral, and then life just goes on. The world does not stop, business of life does not stop, we still need to eat, work, plan, shovel snow, it as if those that were lost were never here. Death happens to everyone. Sheri is not saying she needs more support , she does not.. these are just the facts. So the only thing that really matters is what you do right now in this moment, the smile you give, the gentle touch, the prayers you pray.

1 Corinthians 12:25-27 so that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. Now you are Christ’s body, and individually members of it.

Sheri is trying hard to remember to make new memories and not let joy slip by this holiday season. She is definitely having a hard time balancing these feelings. She knows her grief is still new and fresh, so her feelings are to be expected but she also does not want to miss the important and beautiful things happening in her life. Daughter number one is expecting Sheri's first grandchild the first week of January. God is good.

Sheri keeps thinking about about how many others are on this journey. The isolation this wretched disease brings.It makes her so much more aware of what people are going through, whether this  disease or any other, this type of isolation or any other... Sheri manages a 200 unit apartment community and many times in the evening when she walks Sir Cooper, she realizes that within these walls are peoples lives. Isolated into cubicles each dealing with their own journey, their own pain and isolation. Of course there is joy as well, but for some reason as the sunsets and the glow of their living room lights casts shadows on blinds, Sheri can't help but feel she does not do enough to reach the lonely and the brokenhearted, and she realizes what a fragmented world we live in.
Sheri needs to pause praise and pray.

Sheri is trying to learn to that it is okay to share the gifts God has given her. She had her photos/canvas display Open House at the coffee shop over the weekend. Sheri knows she would have never pursed photography had she not been so lonely and struggling so hard to find something she could do with Bob and "Al". God always has a plan... whether we know it or not.

Sheri woke this morning... thank You Lord.