Shirley B.
The best thing I'm doing for myself? That’s easy. Support group, support group, support group. It lives up to it's name. We are very supportive of each other. We have a lot of fun in the group. We laugh, we tell stories, happy funny stories about things that happen. It really gives most of us a boost, and we look forward to the following month when we get together again.
Most of our meetings are focused on our personal concerns and questions. We talk about our doctors, our medications, what symptoms we're experiencing. If we have any particular hints, we share, like easy ways to get in and out of a car. The advantage of having a commode in your bedroom. Things like that. We're very close.
My attitude is that at age 82 I am not looking forward to a long life. I'm not waiting for a cure. I feel I've had a wonderful life as far as it's gone. I'm really ready to have the end come whenever it does.
As I think back upon my life, I would not have done anything differently except to try to be more understanding of my mother. We were never close when I was a child. She left my father and me when I was nine. My father raised me. I saw her regularly, but we weren't close. We could have made up for that in the last 10 years when she lived so close.
She said to me once ... And it comes back to haunt me often, "You know what I wish, Shirl?" And I said, "No Mother, what's that?" "I wish I had a daughter who loved me." Whoa… My response was, "I try Mother, but it isn't easy." My response was probably no better than the question, but that's how we functioned.
Most of our meetings are focused on our personal concerns and questions. We talk about our doctors, our medications, what symptoms we're experiencing. If we have any particular hints, we share, like easy ways to get in and out of a car. The advantage of having a commode in your bedroom. Things like that. We're very close.
My attitude is that at age 82 I am not looking forward to a long life. I'm not waiting for a cure. I feel I've had a wonderful life as far as it's gone. I'm really ready to have the end come whenever it does.
As I think back upon my life, I would not have done anything differently except to try to be more understanding of my mother. We were never close when I was a child. She left my father and me when I was nine. My father raised me. I saw her regularly, but we weren't close. We could have made up for that in the last 10 years when she lived so close.
She said to me once ... And it comes back to haunt me often, "You know what I wish, Shirl?" And I said, "No Mother, what's that?" "I wish I had a daughter who loved me." Whoa… My response was, "I try Mother, but it isn't easy." My response was probably no better than the question, but that's how we functioned.