Mom First, Friend Forever

Tag: Mom

  • Cruisin Thru Time Part 2

    Water and water sports have been a large part of our lives. I believe for me, it all stems back to when I young and we spent so much of our summers at my grand-parents cottage on Rice Lake. Swimming, boating and skiing (well for everyone but me) Mom was a great water-skier but she could never get me up on skis. I really loved when my grandfather would take us out in the boat and speed around the lake. Nothing felt better then the sun shining down and the wind blowing in our face. Below is the view from our Cottage, any wonder we fell in love with water.

    For my mom I think it started long ago as can be seen by this honeymoon photo. Yes that is Mom and Dad in Florida on their honeymoon. I love this picture of them.

    For my whole life whenever there was an option to spend time near or on water we did so. Last post talked about a river cruise in Quebec. There is a cruise that goes from Kingston or Gananoque that travels through the thousand islands. Mom and Dad took us the first time when we were young, even went to Boldt Castle – was so great. We have done that cruise a few times since. Most recently Mom and I did it when we went to Kingston and took the dinner cruise was so much fun.

    There was entertainment for most of the trip and at the end the Captain came out and sang Sweet Caroline and got quite a good response from the diners.

    The river cruise is beautiful as well – lots of opportunity for photography. And the food, oh my was that great.

    A few years previous Mom, Dad and I took a similar trip and we all went on the river cruise again but for the lunch trip. More opportunity for photos and it was great to travel with both Mom and Dad on this trip

    My favourite pic of the trip was this of my parents eating on the patio of a restaurant down from our hotel

    As an added bonus here is a few photos of Mom and Dad and as you can see water does play a part in much of what we do when we travel. I miss Dad and am so glad that I have these memories of them both they were so good together.

  • Changes in View

    Sunset on Lake Nippissing

    My mother is at what is considered the moderate stage of Alzheimer and this stage you can see more and more changes in how a patient views the world are them. Delusions, hallucinations, confusion and disorientation are some of the key signs of this stage. Like this evening we were watching Mythbusters and when it was over she wanted to know what myth we were busting next. Had to explain we do not shot or blow things up here. LOL Quite often she will mix up what she sees on TV with real life, but luckily most of the time with gentle words i can bring her back to reality. It is so hard to watch the confusion and difficulty she has with understanding what is going on around her.

    Here is a good document that explains what you would see when you or your loved one gets to this stage – Progression – Middle Stage – Alzheimer – I highly recommend reading it if you have anyone around you in or heading to this stage.

    When I was looking at my photos for this post, I looked at the ones below and realized they were such a great visual to explain how things are for mom. Things are familiar – you can trees, flowers etc. but everything is distorted or upside down. I love using my sphere for creative photos which can also help understand what others are seeing.

    My favourite shot of these is the one stuck in the tree and this was an idea of Mom’s as we were walking along a local trail before her Alzhiemers got as bad as now. Did she have an idea of what she would face one day or was she just wonderfully creative. I believe the second as this one not the first or last time she suggested a certain angle or item to shot – she has definitely inspired me to be creative and look at things differently when out with my camera. These photos will always be a memory of her even when she is not in the photo.

  • Creating Lasting Memories with Loved Ones

    I want to start this with a bit of a serious thought about something I have realized since starting this blog. I know that I wanted to create memories with Mom and for the most part I felt I was doing this for me. It is hard to see these memories are not staying with Mom. So I started this blog so I would have something to go back to when Mom no longer can accompany me and as I did, I realized that this is for more then just me, this is for Mom. She may not remember what she did the day before or sometimes even an hour before but not one can deny when looking at this pictures of her that in the moment she was having a grand time.

    So for anyone out there that might think, what is the point of doing things with those who have Alzheimer they won’t remember them. Look at the smiles on Mom’s face and the laughter in her eyes. She is truly living in the moment and you can too with your loved ones. So please get out, share some time with those you love, you will create memories for yourself and joy for your loved one in that moment What could be more important.

    Some of the memories we created when we went to Owen Sound started half way there in a small village called Williamsford – the Williamsford Mill is a awesome place to search for used books and it has a great little cafe there were we shared an amazing BLT. If you go makes sure you grab a couple of Butter tarts – so gooey good.

    We were also lucky that day that a Antique car group was there and they had some really cool cars in the lot.

    We did a lot of driving during this trip – we drove along Georgian Bay and drove over to Lake Huron and we had amazing weather and really got to see a really lovely area of Ontario.

    The best drive we took was along the shoreline between Owen Sound and Wairton. Was so beautiful and so much to see it took us quite a bit more time then the 48mins they said it would.

    So get out there and do some traveling of your own with those you love and if you come across a really good route, please share with me so i can take Mom someplace new.

  • Travel to the Past – Sept 2021

    Memories are created everyday and those with Alzheimer can’t retain those current memories. But the older memories, the past they remember. In 2021 Mom and I traveled Ontario – from home to the north and the last stop was the past.

    Some of our fondest memories are the times we were at my Grandparents cottage on Rice Lake, near Peterbourgh. So we spent the last few days of our trip that year in Peterbourgh.

    The cottage was nothing fancy, just a boathouse that was moved and added to. No heating but a big ole beautiful wood burning stove. Indoor plumbing yea but not shower – didn’t need it we had the lake. 🙂 It is long gone now, my grandparents sold it when i was in my late 20’s and it has been torn down and the area built up. So we did not go by the cottage wanted to retain the memories. We did go by some of the areas we always visited.

    So let me take you on a little tour of Peterbourgh and surrounding area. First is Bewdley. This is right on the lake and about 30 mins from the cottage. We would stop here often on the way to the cottage for a ice cream cone and to stretch our legs. I believe the ice cream parlour was in what is now Rhinos.

    On Sundays we would go to a small village close to the cottage for mass. You could tell this was a vacation area church. They were able to get through the whole mass in 15-20 mins.

    Keene

    We would head into Peterbourgh most times we were at the cottage and there were sites we always went to. So on the trip this time we revisited two of our favourite. The lift locks and Little Lake with it fountain that has been running since i was young and probably many years before.

    I talked to Mom today and asked her if she remembered the cottage and she does so clearly. She can’t always remember where the bathroom is but the memories from 30 and 40 years ago are clear. Some of her favourites are us sitting on the dock in the morning, coffee in hand and enjoying the peace and quiet, swimming or water-skiing (her not me on that last one) and just the ability to spend quality time with family. It was our happy place and this trip was a wonderful revisit to the area.

  • The Fabulous Fifties

    Mom with a car she fell in love with

    In June of 2024 we spent several days in Windsor and had such a great week. I think for Mom the highlight was when we went to Canadian Transportation Museum & Heritage Village (CTMHV) This was a great place. Had a cool 50’s style diner..

    And had so many old vehicles, some dating back to the 1800’s. But for mom there is nothing better then the cars from the 50’s. These are the cars her family, friends and most important my dad drove around in. To mom these are memories.

    Now for me, i do like these cars but i prefer the even older ones. Those from the 30’s are the ones that make my heart beat faster. They make me think of those old English mysteries like Agatha Christie. There is just something classy about the 30’s cars.

    This is one of those places that is little off the beaten path but so worth the drive. For anyone who has an interest in transportation there is so much to see here from small models to old tractors and so much more cars then you can think about.

  • Back Home

    Sept 2021

    We traveled up north back in Sept 2021, our route took us from home to Sudbury, Timmins, North Bay and Peterbourgh.

    We did a small side trip to take mom back home. She was born in Kirkland Lake – a small mining town near the Quebec border.

    This, we believe, from Mom’s memory was the home she lived in when they were in Kirkland Lake

    Where Mom was born

    Kirkland Lake is and was a mining town. My Grandfather worked at the mines when they lived there. Was nice to come across this memorial to the miners that built this town and the many that lost their lives in the mines.

    Miners Monument – Kirkland Lake
    Miners Memorial – Kirkland Lake

    I have to say that as nice as it was to see where my mom was born, I would not live in a town so far north. It was pretty but i could tell that the winters had to be brutal just by the conditions of some of the roads. The road where Mom’s old house sat, was awful, it was like driving over a a path that had been dug up and mounded up all over the place. They would not have a problem with speeders on these road, you could so easily ruin your car if you tried.

    I think this was one of the best days of the trip for Mom. Although she was already showing signs of Alzheimer she did remember stories from back then and really that was a long way back, Mom was 6 or 7 i believe when they moved from Kirkland Lake to the bustling metropolis of Hamilton.