Life in the A-Zone

Decorating for the holidays is bittersweet this year. Peggy realizes this will be her mother's last Christmas at home and she longs for Christmas of yesteryear as a lifetime of memories fills her heart.

Another step down the ladder of the Alzheimer’s journey is inevitable as Peggy’s mother begins walking out of the house unnoticed. Trying to figure out the next move to keep her safe brings confusion and frustration.

Taking an Alzheimer's patient on a cruise may not be a great idea, but Mom's 82nd birthday deserves a big celebration. Her smiles and endless laughter make it worth the awkward moments, and we are blessed with special memories.

Peggy and her father make plans for special trips with her mother, but soon realize road trips with an Alzheimer’s patient are challenging, exhausting, and emotionally draining. Their best-laid plans are trips to nowhere. 

Peggy plans a “good day” for her mother decorating the house for Easter sparking many childhood memories. Celebrating Easter may be different these days, however, creating new memories can be just as heartfelt and special.

Peggy's stressful day over her mother's choice of clothing for Grandparent's Day turns around that evening when her family goes to hear live music at a local bar. Watching her mother and father tenderly slow dance under the stars creates lasting memories of the love between her parents that will live forever.

Peggy takes a girl's trip to Natchez, Mississippi with her mother, her mother's best friend, and her daughter. The weekend is a celebration of friendship and love with a side of pie.  Everything is better with pie!

Simple life lessons to deal with her mother's Alzheimer's are discovered as Peggy walks around the beautiful neighborhood lake encountering a White Heron, a Blue Heron, and a gaggle of Canadian Geese. A crawfish boil at a neighbor's home brings a much needed afternoon of Louisiana festive fun and new friends.

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A morning of surrender and reaching out for help turns into a beautiful day when Peggy snaps a beautiful picture of her mother in the backyard. This simple photograph invokes loving memories of her Grandmother and captures a pink cloud moment of grace and gratitude.

For Peggy, shopping with her mother followed by a lovely lunch with the Sweeney sisters was a favorite mother/daughter bonding activity. However, shopping now with their new unwelcome friend, Alzheimer's, is a different story altogether.