LOL, AWESOME! Sigh. Some people. Great to meet you!

ouff! Dementia is NOT fun. I was raised by my grandparents too. My great-grandmother died in April, 4 short days before her 100th birthday and only 2 weeks after Hayden was born still. She was my best friend growing up. She lived in the basement at our house up until I was in the 9th grade. In the past 5 years her dementia really started to take flight and It was really difficult to watch. My grandfather’s health is not very good and he doesn’t listen to the doctors or slow down and take care of himself. I am scared all the time when I see their number come up on the phone that something happened. At 25 knowing your parent probably won’t have many years left is so hard. This is the reality of the children raised by grandparents. Our time with them is shorter. I feel for ya!

Right now I am losing both my grandparents who raised me. My grandmother has dementia and it is HORRIBLE. My father died suddenly and unexpectedly and it was like being hit by a train I didn’t hear coming. There was no time to prepare mentally or emotionally for losing him. But with my grandmother I lose her then have her then she is gone again. One day she is herself and the next she doesn’t know me. I’ve been really tired over the past few days and I think it’s because she finally had to be put in a care center. She’s deteriorated too much for home care. The only stable thing I’ve ever had in my life. My grandparents and the home I grew up in are going away and it really is a long good-bye.

Bad things happen, but we can bring great beauty from the lives lost. I founded WANA (We Are Not Alone) so writers would never have to struggle alone. I am so sorry for your loss, but proud that you where brave enough to talk about it. You cannot imagine how much comfort and sanity you’re bringing to others who are suffering. As far as being a “good” writer, you wrote well enough to make your point and reach hearts. Your skills will improve with practice and just keep being courageous. Sometimes the bravest thing we can do is cry…a lot.

Wonderful to meet you and know you. I wish the circumstances had been better ((HUGS)).

Strange isn’t it? Well, maybe not. I guess when you hurt that bad a big open wound forms and it allows all that creative stuff you had hidden away seep out. I am by no means a very good writer at this point. I just know that I feel compelled to write often and that the subject matter is reaching and helping a lot of people in my situation who find it hard to express the little details that surround losing a baby. Kristen, I did not even know what a “blog” really was until a few months ago! I posted my “birth story”..the big tragic tale..on blogger and it ended up reaching thousands of people. I felt so blessed to be receiving emails from random women all over North America thanking me for sharing my story and my on going journey through grief. I made a wordpress account last night to try to force myself to write about (and do) other things. Healing things. My plan is to document my adventures in the kitchen and furniture restoration attempts. HA! We shall see how well that goes. I find it hard to stop circling around the same subject of losing Hayden.
I am sorry for your loss as well. They say when you lose a parent you lose your past and when you lose a child you lose your future. I don’t really know about that. You lose your future when you lose your parent too. And there is no way of determining which is worse. It’s like that dumb question “If you had to chose, would you rather be deaf or blind”….Uh…neither!?

Awww, you POOR thing! ((HUGS)). I am SO sorry. Losing my father suddenly what what propelled me to begin writing.

How well I do relate. For me, just getting my story going has been an act of God and Congress (and you know what congress can be like ! 😉 ) Priorities. Priorities!

Well, I finally found the solution for ONE of my problems; For my research stuff, I will come to the net. For writing, however, I am going to do my VERY BEST to stick to…. MY TYPEWRITER. Yes, you read that right. I still have my typewriter, and so, when it comes to writing the first draft, that will come before I commit said stories to document page and USB (flashdrive) I will be sticking with my typewriter. Possibly even for first draft blog posts. THEN, when I find another free weekend, I will commit said works to blog and /or document.

I spent better part of this weekend actually accomplishing something because I determined to get off this plug-drug and clear my head with outside writing. Fresh air, people, new perspective. And it worked. I did map out my ideas for the stories I want to work on. Now, all I have to do is find the time to build on those foundations. Despite single-hood, a free weekend is not as easy to come by as it used to be.

Anywho…. I have all the respect in the world for people who can turn off the NET and just write when they need to. I wish I was one of those people. Perhaps I can train myself to work, net free, yet again, but for now, when it comes to writing for myself, I need to keep a safe distance from distraction and go to either paper and pen or paper and typewriter. I find I get more done when I’m not thinking that I have to check emails or do…whatever else. Or …what’s new on youtube.

Someone else here mentioned that attention spans are shrinking. So very true. Too many things competing for our attention. Now our BRAINS are what need De-fragging. Too much technology in ones life is not only financially draining, it’s doing a number on our ability to stick to one thing and get it done.

With all of that said, I will finish mapping out story plans and then begin to work on my blog and the inconsistency issue therein. But first things first….