I'm really scratching my head to try to find uplifting stories about caregiving these days. But, here's a start. I was talking with the CNA (my life is full of acronyms right now. . . CNA means clinical nurse assistant, who is the closest I'm ever gonna get to my Mom's doctor right now). And she was advising me to get mom to drink more water, because dehydration might be contributing to her symptoms. I showed her mom's big jug of water she was issued when she came to the nursing home. I had replaced the transparent straw with a big green Starbucks type straw so that mom could see it. The CNA looked at me and said, "That is brilliant!" I was so proud of myself. And mom even laughed.
But, when I went over there today, the straw was gone. I'm going to go buy a pack of them.
So, I could write thousands of words about all the terrible things that have happened. But I think, for the time being, I'm going to let the straw story stand.