5/31 My Slice of Life every Monday

Thanks to those at the TwoWritingTeachers blog for this challenge. 

         For those of you who’ve followed my blog for a long while, you know that my husband spent the last years of his life in a nursing home with Lewy Body Dementia and Parkinson’s disease.  It’s been six months since we said goodbye to him, and I miss him every day. This post is not exactly about him, but about the wonderful place where he stayed, my slice of life on Mondays. It isn’t a fancy place, but oh, the care and love he was given there, and that I received from the staff as well was awesome.   A couple of months ago I began volunteering in the part of the home where he lived. 

New Kind of Slice of Life

         The Tuesday Slice of Life is hosted by the Two Writing Teachers blog.  Go there to visit the other"slicers"!  Thanks to Stacey, Tara, Dana, Betsy, Anna, and Elisabeth for all the marvelous posts they share!

               "Friendship Doubles Our Joy And Divides Our Sorrows"

        I’ve started a new slice in my life, sort of, by volunteering at the nursing home where my husband lived for 18 months.  I’ll be able to help with those patients I grew to like so much, and to meet new ones.  I’ve been back more than once since Arvie's passing, and have discovered I miss the connections I made there. 

        When I first began this journey with my husband, I wanted to get to know those who would be caring for him.  I spent time sharing with the staff about him, about myself, and about my family.  My own family and a few friends visited.  Slowly we all began to know each other, about our family and about theirs too.  I knew who had children, who was not married, who had grandchildren. I discovered who visited their mother, sister, friend, brother, father.  We were unique, but all connected because of the diagnosis of dementia in its diverse forms.  It became nearly as good a visit with others who lived there as it was with my husband.