The best stuff of all

This is the easiest.

So you are with someone you love and respect.

They are struggling with losing their ability to do a lot of tasks for themselves and you can see this has the possibility to impact on who they believe they are, and questioning their identity.

Remember to treat them as you always have, with dignity, respect and 

throw a good measure of laughter and humour in.

Laughter really is the most wonderful thing to life someones spirits and keep them feeling good about themselves and life in general. 

Remind them of all the wonderful times you had together, 

spend time reminiscing about what makes them happy.

Reiterate often how wonderful your memories of good times are  

and thank them for making those times possible.

Most people want to believe they have been valuable in creating 

warm, wonderful and lasting memories in other people, 

this is how we live on and it offers a great sense of achievement, 

validation for our time spent on earth

  and comfort to know you have given something truly immeasurable 

(time and love) to someone, 

so make sure you let them know how great those memories are.

The way things are;

We all get older, it gets hard to do things ourselves.

Sometimes we need help to manage.

These are just some ideas I have come up with when looking after my Dad.

He is 74 and has emphysema. He is on oxygen 24/7 and we have just got a wheelchair to help him get out of the house because walking is just too much for him for more than about 10 steps.

Since looking after my dad I have noticed lots of things that make stuff easier for him, and lots of stuff makes it harder. So I will just tell you about stuff as it happens, and maybe if you are looking after someone who needs a bit of help to get things done, it may help you and them as well.

Cheers