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Archive for the 'Holidays' Category

Apr 13 2009

Casey at the Bat

Published by alzheimersideas under Family Life, Health and Fitness, Holidays, alzheimer's disease, dementia Edit This



Why am I sharing this poem with you today?
Click here for the answer

Casey at the Bat
By Ernest Lawrence Thayer Taken From the San Francisco Examiner - June 3, 1888
 The outlook wasn’t brilliant for the Mudville nine that day;
The score stood four to two, with but one inning more to play,
And then when Cooney died at first, and Barrows did the same,
A pall-like silence fell upon the patrons of the game. A straggling few got up to go in deep despair. The rest
Clung to that hope which springs eternal in the human breast;
They thought, “If only Casey could but get a whack at that —
We’d put up even money now, with Casey at the bat.”But Flynn preceded Casey, as did also Jimmy Blake,
And the former was a hoodoo, while the latter was a cake;
So upon that stricken multitude grim melancholy sat;
For there seemed but little chance of Casey getting to the bat.But Flynn let drive a single, to the wonderment of all,
And Blake, the much despised, tore the cover off the ball;
And when the dust had lifted, and men saw what had occurred,
There was Jimmy safe at second and Flynn a-hugging third.

Then from five thousand throats and more there rose a lusty yell;
It rumbled through the valley, it rattled in the dell;
It pounded on the mountain and recoiled upon the flat,
For Casey, mighty Casey, was advancing to the bat.

There was ease in Casey’s manner as he stepped into his place;
There was pride in Casey’s bearing and a smile lit Casey’s face.
And when, responding to the cheers, he lightly doffed his hat,
No stranger in the crowd could doubt ’twas Casey at the bat.

Ten thousand eyes were on him as he rubbed his hands with dirt.
Five thousand tongues applauded when he wiped them on his shirt.
Then while the writhing pitcher ground the ball into his hip,
Defiance flashed in Casey’s eye, a sneer curled Casey’s lip.

And now the leather-covered sphere came hurtling through the air,
And Casey stood a-watching it in haughty grandeur there.
Close by the sturdy batsman the ball unheeded sped —
“That ain’t my style,” said Casey. “Strike one!” the umpire said.

From the benches, black with people, there went up a muffled roar,
Like the beating of the storm-waves on a stern and distant shore;
“Kill him! Kill the umpire!” shouted some one on the stand;
And it’s likely they’d have killed him had not Casey raised his hand.

With a smile of Christian charity great Casey’s visage shone;
He stilled the rising tumult; he bade the game go on;
He signaled to the pitcher, and once more the dun sphere flew;
But Casey still ignored it, and the umpire said “Strike two!”

“Fraud!” cried the maddened thousands, and echo answered “Fraud!”
But one scornful look from Casey and the audience was awed.
They saw his face grow stern and cold, they saw his muscles strain,
And they knew that Casey wouldn’t let that ball go by again.

The sneer has fled from Casey’s lip, the teeth are clenched in hate;
He pounds with cruel violence his bat upon the plate.
And now the pitcher holds the ball, and now he lets it go,
And now the air is shattered by the force of Casey’s blow.

Oh, somewhere in this favored land the sun is shining bright,
The band is playing somewhere, and somewhere hearts are light,
And somewhere men are laughing, and little children shout;
But there is no joy in Mudville — mighty Casey has struck out.
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Apr 10 2009

Making Easter special(part 3)

Published by alzheimersideas under Family Life, Health and Fitness, Holidays, alzheimer's disease, dementia Edit This

What else can you do on Easter to make life as grand as possible for persons with dementia?

Many people wore Easter bonnets for Easter. Trying on hats can be enjoyable. It probably will bring back memories and family stories that are always wonderful to hear.

Telling them makes the persons with dementia feel good. You probably have heard the stories before so fill in the blanks if you need to. Otherwise just sit back and listen. Make sure to appear interested.

What about a family Easter egg hunt? Team up the person with dementia with another family member and a grandchild. As you know persons with dementia love children.

Of course going to church is important if the person with dementia can tolerate it. You can always go for a short period of time or have an Easter spiritual circle at home

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Enjoy  Adorable Photographs at Easter or anytime

Come back for more

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Apr 08 2009

Making Easter special(part 2)

Published by alzheimersideas under Family Life, Health and Fitness, Holidays, alzheimer's disease, dementia Edit This

As I said yesterday, part of making life for those with dementia as pleasant as possible is to celebrate the holidays with them in a joyful fashion.

What else can you do to make Easter special?

Think back to your family’s past What traditions did your familt carry out? What can you still do?

Here are some other possible ideas
*Make and or fill an Easter basket.
If you have no one to give it to donate o\it to a local charity or childrens organization.
Perhaps you can make a trip to a local pre-school to donate some time with your loved one with dementia.
Obviosly this may not be appropriate for everyone.

*Watch an Easter video or listen to Easter music

Here are the Lyrics to the song Easter Parade
“Never saw you look quite so pretty before
Never saw you dressed quite so lovely what’s more
I could hardly wait to keep our date this lovely Easter morning
And my heart beat fast as I came through the door
For
In your Easter bonnet, with all the frills upon it
You’ll be the grandest lady in the Easter paradeI’ll be all in clover and when they look you over
I’ll be the proudest fellow in the Easter paradeOn the Avenue
Fifth Avenue
The photographers will snap us
And you’ll find that you’re
In the rotogravureOh, I could write a sonnet about your Easter bonnet
And of the girl I’m taking to the Easter parade”

Remember this book for those with dementia.
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Adorable Photographs

Come back for more about Easter activities you can share

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                       C A Johnson

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Apr 07 2009

Make Easter special for those with dementia

Published by alzheimersideas under Family Life, Health and Fitness, Holidays, alzheimer's disease, dementia Edit This

Part of making life for those with dementia as pleasant as possible is to celebrate the holidays with them in a joyful fashion.

The celebration will resemble the way you celebrated it in the past. However you will make accommodations for the people with dementia.

Obviously, they will not be able to cook Easter dinner as they may have done in the past. However that does not mean they can not help.

You must assess what they can do well. Maybe they can measure or mix ingredients.

Maybe you will have to remake  what they made, but do not tell them you have.

Perhaps they will have to sit on the side line and watch.

Maybe you will need to find a meaningful activity while you prepare the meal.

Here is a good book that will fill the bill.
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Adorable Photographs

Come back for more about Easter activities you can share

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                      Caregiving Daughter

2 responses so far

Mar 17 2009

Happy St. Patrick’s Day

Published by alzheimersideas under Family Life, Health and Fitness, Holidays, alzheimer's disease, dementia Edit This

Now here is the rest of the story

For the first part go to my sister site

….singing another Irish song like Its a Great Day for the Irish. Since everyone here is Irish, then it is going to be a great day for all of you.

Next you can talk about some of the symbols of St. Patrick’s Day such as: the shamrock, the leprochon , and the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow and whatever else the group wants to talk about

Next either sing another Irish song or give out some more compliments to more group members. You can say I want to see a nice Irish smile on everyone’s face. Then sing When Irish Eyes Are Smiling. You have been practicing that one almost all week.

Alternate singing, talking about the day, and positive affirmations about everyone. Make sure to say something nice about everyone.

Topics for discussion may include:
Potato jokes
Truth or blarney- True or false statements about anything. But instead of true or false, its truth or blarney 
Green things

For  each topic I go from table to table trying to give each person a chance to speak even if you have to do most of the talking for the person(s).

Song selections might include:
My Wild Irsh Rose
I’m Looking Over a Four Leaf Clover
Harrigan
Sweet Rosie O’Grady
That’s Peggy O’Neill
Sidewalks of New York
Peg O My Heart

Then end the party with a sweet treat. We have a green cake with green frosting. We make a green jello cake. I make green drinks mixing a yellow beverage with a blue one. You can get blue gatorade. Trust me the combination tastes pretty good. I tell  everyone not to get too tipsy.

We usually end with Show Me the Way to go Home and God Bless America.

What a great party and a great day. You were instrumental in making it all possible

3 responses so far

Feb 12 2009

Calming agitated behavior in a dementia person(part 5)

Published by alzheimersideas under Family Life, Health and Fitness, Holidays, alzheimer's disease, dementia Edit This

We are going to continue our discussion of how to avoid getting a person agitated in the first place.

I was visiting http://caregivingdaughter.today.com/ and I was reminded of the effects of the full moon. Our residents were off the wall three days ago. After reading that blog, I was reminded of the effects of the full moon has on folks with dementia. Thar is a story for another day.

Back to the topic

You may want to keep a journal to docunment when a dementia person becomes agitated and what preceeded this event from all angles. In other words, note the environment, the people who are present, background noise. what you or someone might have said or did, the time of day, and any other information that might be noteworthy.

Then you can……………..

Come back tomorrow

Remember to visit my sister site for activity ideas. Activities go a long way in keeping agitated behavior at bay

3 responses so far

Feb 06 2009

Best ways to a dementia person’s heart

Published by alzheimersideas under Family Life, Health and Fitness, Holidays, alzheimer's disease, dementia Edit This

Valentine’s Day is just a short time from now.
You as a caregiver or healthcare professional want to get your loved one or client with dementia a meaningful gift the he/she can enjoy long after Valentine’s Day is over.

The best gift you can give on Valentine’s Day or any day for that matter is the gift of yourself.

Not just the person who remembers who this dementia person was,but a person who appreciates who the dementia person is now.

In the posts to come, I am going to discuss the best ways to have a positive relationship with a dementia person.

If you want to get the dementia a person a ”regular” gift, click here for some suggestions. 

Please join us in the journey

Also visit my sister site

4 responses so far

Feb 05 2009

Perfect: Purim Story (part2)

Published by alzheimersideas under Family Life, Health and Fitness, Holidays, alzheimer's disease, dementia Edit This

Here is a recap

Haman is the bad guy and wants to kill all the Jews
Esther is the Jewish Queen
King Ahasuerus is married to Esther and thus far has listened to Haman.
Mordechai is Queen Esther’s brother

What will happen next?
Mordechai pleads with Esther to save the Jewish people by talking to the King. At the risk of her own life, Esther appears before the King without being summoned by him. She reveals her own Jewish identity to the King and reveals Haman’s evil plans.The King is outraged at Haman, and he issues a decree to make Haman the victim of his own plot. Haman and his sons are killed, and the Jews are saved.Make sure to visit here for more ideas on celebrating Purim in a few weeks or you can subscribe to this e magazine

What will I have tomorrow?
Come back to see

Please visit my sister site for more ideas

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Feb 04 2009

Celebrating Purim with those who have dementia

Published by alzheimersideas under Family Life, Health and Fitness, Holidays, alzheimer's disease, dementia Edit This

image002.jpgWhy am I sharing the story of Purim now even though it is not celebrated until March.

Purim is a fun holiday that folks with dementia will enjoy. It is the classic story of good over evil.

Of course people with a Jewish background will initally relate more to this holiday. But once the fun of it is shown all  people young and old, Jewish or not Jewish will want to partake in the festivities.

It is important to share good times with people who have Alzheimer’s disease, related dementias, and /or are long term care residents  

So here goes

A long long time ago in about 350 BC between the destruction of the First Temple and the building of the Second Temple, the Jews were almost destroyed.

In the city of Shushan, the King of Persia, King Ahasuerus, had to pick a new queen. From among hundreds of applicants, Esther, cousin of Mordechai, a kings helper and a Jew, is chosen.The King’s Prime Minister was an evil man named Haman. Haman wears a three cornered hat. Haman, a descendant of the tribe of Amalek, hates the Jews. Haman is jealous of them. Haman knows Mordechai is Jewish. Haman tells King Ahasuerus that the Jews are bad. Haman convinces King Ahasuerus to issue an edict which orders the destruction of all Jews in the land

Part two, tomorrow. Thanks for stopping byVisit my sister site

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Feb 02 2009

Dementia facts(part 7)

Published by alzheimersideas under Family Life, Health and Fitness, Holidays, alzheimer's disease, dementia Edit This

Yesterday, I may have made dementia sound like all doom and gloom. While Alzheimer’s disease and dementia are devastating mind robbing diseases that everyone needs to be aware of, there are plenty of happy moments that can be shared.

Though dementia is defined primarily by what aspects of a person’s memory become damaged, it is helpful to remember that dementia is by its nature partial and incomplete. There are aspects of personality and character and abilities that stay remarkably preserved, though this can be a mixed blessing.

The parts of the brain that get damaged is somewhat random. The order that the parts of the brain get damaged is random too.

While I described behavioral problems, there are some who are very kind, fun loving and sweet.

In the beginning, most with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias know…..come back to see what I am talking about

Thanks for stopping by and do not forget to visit my sister site

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