Switching Paths
Hey mom,
Things have been kinda blah lately. We have gotten back into our school routines, which is going almost smoothly...but you know how it is. Not wanting to their homework till the last possible moment, saying their are too tired to help out around the house doing any sort of chore...including taking care of their pets. Kids will be kids and then I have to be the mean person by yelling at them, grounding them etc. Most days, every thing goes smoothly though, they are good kids.
I don't know if I have mentioned this yet, but I have started walking a dog every morning. I get paid to, so that is nice. Plus it gets me up and moving in the morning and a little exercise which I need more of anyways, so win win. The name of the dog I walk is Harry. He is about three years old and so stinking cute. He reminds me of the Lorax. His hairy face and puffy tail. I might take him home one day and not bring him back. But then his owners would come pick him up cause it is not hard to find me.
Those morning walks give me time to think. Think about whatever happened that morning, what I need to do during the day or where ever my mind wanders. One of those mornings got me thinking about a children's book I would like to write. It's about a cat who gets adopted into a nice family. The cat, a boy, is either British or Scottish. I can hear his voice when I think of lines for the book, but haven't quite placed where he is from yet. He will use ridiculous words that most kids, of a tender age, won't know. For instance preposterous, monotonous, droll or comical. I have thought of a few ideas for different themes for the series. Where he is before he gets adopted, the children and dog who live in his new dwelling, and another where he is bored at night roaming the halls causing a ruckus. I am laughing just thinking about it.
On one of my walks I was listening to random videos on FB, and came across a lady who had completed some sort of training about Dementia. The training was to help her better understand Dementia/Alzheimer's and how to help the patient and families comprehend and deal with the disease. It was enlightening listening to her. All the stuff I learned with you would have greatly helped if I had known before hand. Not shutting you out, stopping you from doing mundane things around the house like sweeping or doing the dishes. It may have helped keep your wits about you longer. Taking all of that away, treating you like you couldn't do anything pushed you further into the disease quicker than it should have.
While thinking on that, I was also thinking about how I need to start making money again. All the random things I have tried and ultimately failed because I didn't put enough effort into it. During my woe is me rabbit hole, I remembered the camera the hubs bought for me a couple of years back when I got into Getty Images. I had many thoughts on what to do with it, and have used it a few times...not as much as I should be. I thought maybe I could make a collection of photographs with one constant thing in every picture. Like a stuffed animal, leaf, something. I hadn't figured out what...till now.
The week of your funeral we had some extra family fly in for your celebration of life ceremony. Your brother, my uncle was one of them. He reminds me of Granka so I wanted to continue the bag of marbles nonsense with my Uncle. Remember the marbles? I remember randomly buying them for Granka and telling him I found his marbles. So funny. Granka was a great man. Getting off subject. Anywho, before Uncle got here I went to the store and found a bag of marbles. I gave them to him before he left. We had a good laugh and then he left. A few hours later I found the marbles in my fridge. Your brother.
Pondering all these things and it clicked. Like a flood of information I was finally understanding. All of my thoughts came together. I would use the marbles. I will go around to different places, the beach, forrest, city, everywhere and take pictures with a marble or marbles, somewhere in the picture. Sometimes the viewer will have to really search for the marble, like a "Where's Waldo" situation. Others a marble will be prominent in the photograph. I am going to start with where I live first and already have a list of 10 places to go to. It will be called "Where's my marbles" or "I found your marbles" or I don't know. It will come to me, hopefully in a flash like this photography idea.
So, I have decided to use this platform for something else. My hope is to bring more awareness around Dementia/Alzheimer's. I am going to promote the pictures here and on my FB page. I am going to talk about it, not hide in my shell. I might even look into taking the same class the lady in the video did, so I can share even more.
I don't know where this is going, but I have a new-found optimism.
Love,
Your daughter
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