I have not written or participated for a long time.  HAPPY NEW YEAR!  Hope everyone had a great Christmas.  My Dad (w/ early Alzheimers) and my step-mom came to visit us in Florida for Christmas from Missouri.  It was like a real holiday!  My husband and daughter and I spent New Year's week at a gulf coast beach...however it was the coldest week in FL...I wore my leather coat to walk the white beach!  Anyway, I hope you all are great and I may check in more often.  Hugs to your kids and don't forget - we must care for ourselves...today, I have a "day of Gayle".  It has been a long time since I had a day alone to do whatever I wanted!

Bye, Gayle

Two of my friends and I have had some serious loses over the past few months.  Here is a poem...don't know if it really helps anyone, because I am still griving for my father's early stage dementia.   

People we love…   What is a memory? I thought it would be The only thing that could last forever.   But there is no forever. Family and friends die And sometimes so do memories.   So what do we do? Why do we keep loving? Because as the saying goes…   “It is better to have loved and lost Than never to have loved at all.”   What happens when our minds are grey… Full of haze, questions, uncertainty? Do we know who we are and Who we loved?   Now that I know that God loves all of us Including the failures in me, Why don’t I feel comforted that there is Something that will be there when the People, The Body and the Mind go?   We can just barely accept that life is not perfect, That there is loneliness, war, poverty, hunger, and illness. But why do we crave a concrete reason for humankind to suffer?   Thoughts come back to the Native Americans that believed that only God was perfect, so they purposefully made tiny mistakes in their handmade goods.   Maybe we humans are just the imperfect crafts made by God, And the cracks, knots and holes are intended to help us feel pain So that we can feel alive most of the time And thankful and gracious For our time here.   As tears can just as easily be for joy or sorrow. The grace of God is that we can feel emotion, Like salty streams trickling down our cheeks.   May 2007   - G.S.

Two of my friends and I have had some serious loses over the past few months.  Here is a poem...don't know if it really helps anyone, because I am still griving for my father's early stage dementia.   

People we love…   What is a memory? I thought it would be The only thing that could last forever.   But there is no forever. Family and friends die And sometimes so do memories.   So what do we do? Why do we keep loving? Because as the saying goes…   “It is better to have loved and lost Than never to have loved at all.”   What happens when our minds are grey… Full of haze, questions, uncertainty? Do we know who we are and Who we loved?   Now that I know that God loves all of us Including the failures in me, Why don’t I feel comforted that there is Something that will be there when the People, The Body and the Mind go?   We can just barely accept that life is not perfect, That there is loneliness, war, poverty, hunger, and illness. But why do we crave a concrete reason for humankind to suffer?   Thoughts come back to the Native Americans that believed that only God was perfect, so they purposefully made tiny mistakes in their handmade goods.   Maybe we humans are just the imperfect crafts made by God, And the cracks, knots and holes are intended to help us feel pain So that we can feel alive most of the time And thankful and gracious For our time here.   As tears can just as easily be for joy or sorrow. The grace of God is that we can feel emotion, Like salty streams trickling down our cheeks.   May 2007   - G.S.

Hello, my name is Gayle and I am a 39 yr. old mom of 1 totally great girl...now 16 (although she has her teen moments).

I like music, gardening, occasionally write poetry, spending time with my favorite friends and family members...notice here I didn't mention them all - boy am I mean!   Actually, the usual - inlaws - are pretty decent folks in the Midwest.

I have lived in Florida for 7 years now and have worked with children of ALL ages for my entire life...seriously!  My favorite age is 3 - 5  - and -  be honest, who doesn't love a baby? (that isn't crying)...I am in the "Sandwich generation" - the world of teen-agers and aging parents...all my grandparents have been gone awhile.  Sometimes, I realize that yes, life is constantly changing..roll w/ it  and get over yourself.  So, gotta email a friend, whisper "night night" to my sleeping daughter, husband and 2 dogs...and go to sleep...it's almost 11:00pm eastern time in US.  What time is it in Australia where a lot of you live?