What are some creative ways that you can connect with your loved one?
Sometimes I need to find unique ways to connect with my loved one when simply being with her isn't engaging her in meaningful ways. What are some ways that you find that kind of connection?
, with loved ones like my father, we made meaningful connections through music and reminiscing through old and new photographs. Walks were always refreshing, along with an ice cream treat. Seeking ideas can bring comfort and relief. I believe that the responses you receive will support you. Do let us know what you found to have worked well. Respectfully, Nancy Team Member 
As a person who has dementia, I am going to tell about my daughter. We live in a small home on her land. She is next door or was until the tornado took her home 4-2-2024. That is beside the point. She does not like to read, but she has amazed me over the past 15 years of researching every health challenge that her dad & I have. The dementia she has down to a common way to think & answer in a second of how to say something to us. And believe me she has to talk differently to dad than to me! In the last few months, I have been very bad off. (Now as a child - I am 78 - I loved to play with cut-out dolls. I almost enjoyed the cutting out as much or more than the play) I told her that I had gotten some coloring books for 3 year old's with big pictures and was cutting them out. I would be embarrassed to tell anyone that - but her. She said are you making a collage of them? (she no longer sees me everyday nor every week she has back damage & lives in town now) We both realized, that collage was the activity of her mother (me) but as a child (me) did not do collages so I don't do them now because I am enjoying what I did then. Find what the person with dementia enjoyed as a child & see if it can still be done. I cannot find anything like that for my husband's vascular dementia because he was always active outside in all weather! No inside interests.
JaffyI want to say the my 3rd grade teacher got me hooked onto genealogy. My widowed mother was too poor to order from Sears. Dad died when I was 5 he was 35 & mom was 27 I was an only child. The catalogs were National Bellas Hess & Aldens. My husbands grandfather ordered a complete house kit from Wards, I think, before 1920! It is still lived in, tho no longer in the family. Jaffy This is very cool. I love how interactive and tactile children's toys and hobbies used to be. Do you still have the original dolls from those catalogs? Scott Team member
I love this conversation! I agree that it would be wonderful to continue your writing. You still have a lot to say and can still say it. Your family will appreciate your capturing their history. It doesn’t have to be a whole series. Maybe don’t start like that, but see where it ends up. Do you have an editor to help you? Maybe talking it through with your daughter could do the trick. Even if you can’t see her, since she is in town, don’t have a smart device that can make video calls? That can be a nice way to keep in touch. We FaceTime with my mom and brother and with my daughter. Her face lights up and she’s so happy to see them on the screen. Also, do you have some help with your husband? My mom has vascular dementia and it has really affected her speech. How has it affected your husband? Thanks again for sharing your wonderful stories. Blessings, Kathy M team member.
