I've been full-time caretaker for my mom
who has vascular dementia.
She's been at the ranch for 4 months.
I was able to take a week off, a week of respite,
because my sweet brother, Russ, flew in to take
over her care while I spent a week on the
Atlantic shore on Satellite Beach, Florida.
I happened to read an article in a free
zine called Natural Awakenings that
I know God put in my path to give me the
words that describe perfectly what being at
the ocean means to me.
.....The qualities that make a place special to us
are highly personal, and they often help us to define
who we are. Whether the setting is a lake house,
a mountain lodge, a seashore cottage {ocean condo} or a
backyard at twilight, our sensory connections to these
special places shape us in deep and lasting ways.....
This relationship to place is one that we carry
within ourselves for a lifetime.
Iona Dreaming: The Healing Power of Place,
is Clare Cooper Marcus' journal of her six months
on the Scottish island of Iona.
"I feel pure in this place. It is as if there was no separation
between my living, breathing, perceiving body and my soul-nature.
No posturing, no pretending. I am who I am -- no more,
no less. As my breathing slows and I relax, I experience the
sound of the sea passing through me -- not me hearing the sea,
not me and the sea -- just the sound"
The ocean has always been the place where I feel God
the deepest. This week of respite was necessary for
my mental being and soul.
I rented my dear friend, Vicki Boster's, condo and it felt
like I could reach out the window and touch the surf.
The week was shared with my best friend from college
and my cousin - each being with me for half a week.
Their presence allowed me to talk about what I have been
through these last four months. It was immensely healing.
I crave the ocean every day.
I would love to experience a few weeks
on the Scottish island of Iona like
Clare Cooper Marcus was allowed to do.
Traveling abroad...to an island in Scotland...
writing about it gives me chills.
I don't think I'll be adding that to my bucket list,
however, because I don't see any way it would
happen, but simply thinking about it makes me grin.
(And, God can make it happen, right??)
This past week at the ocean was cleansing, refreshing
and, as I said earlier, healing. I hope that I can
go to an ocean again in the next couple of months.
Any ocean -- God speaks to me through any of them.
I am aware that I am not the only daughter that has or has had
full care of a parent with dementia......or cancer.......or
parkinsons.....any chronic disease. But, we all have our
own challenges that we must deal with while caring for our
parent(s) and my challenge is physical. So, I need
to do what will keep me the healthiest so that I can
care for my sweet mother properly.
Give me the ocean.
Thank you for following my blog and for your continued support.
My mother is so important to me and all of my siblings.
Having her loose the best of her is incredibly hard to witness.
Without God's support I don't know how I could do it.
I give him all the glory.
Blessings, Jan
