January 20, 2001
Dear Friends:
Welcome to The Caregiver
Companion newsletter, Vol. 1 #1.
This is our first issue. We have included:
Re-Subscribe
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for this inconvenience, but we have changed our email address system.
Therefore, you must resubmit your name and email address to receive future
issues.
FROM
AN ENLIGHTENED PERSPECTIVE
Everything
is determined, the beginning as well as the end, by forces over which we
have no control. It is determined for the insect as well as the star.
Human
beings, vegetables, or cosmic dust, we all dance to a mysterious tune,
intoned in the distance by an invisible player.
Scientist/educator/philosopher,
Albert Enstein 1879-1955
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"Break
Through"
Courtesy of THE GIFTED EYE
Char Follis (248) 693-1948 |
New Articles for Cargivers
at our Web Site
www.caregivercompanion.com
(To go directly to these
articles at the web site, click on the http: address after the title)
This article features this
inspirational poem by 13th Century poet, Rumi, along with a short biography of
the author (4 min.) 01/03/01.
These historical notes
give deeper insight into the meaning of these words as we learn the revealing
but difficult process of embracing and accepting the
"unwanted".
This being human is a
guest-house
Every morning a new arrival.
A joy, a depression, a
meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.
Welcome and entertain
them all!
Even if they're a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still, treat each
guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.
The dark thought, the
shame, the malice,
meet them at the door laughing,
and invite them in.
Be grateful for
whoever comes,
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.
-
Me Depressed?
http://www.caregivercompanion.com/11depression1gary.htm
This new article tells the story of a
rather negative period in my (Gary) life dominated by fear and feelings of
helplessness. It includes references to books, tapes, and physical
activities that continue to help me turn this time into a very valuable and
important growth experience.
8 min. 01/03/01
When one door of
happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed
door that we do not see the one which has opened for us. Helen
Keller
A Helpful Hint
for
Caregivers
Recent health difficulties for
Anne's mother has required that we (Anne's family) begin to move into the role
of caregivers. Fortunately, many of us have valuable experience and
knowledge, but we can not be present all the time (due to geographical
locations).
We have been able to overcome
this difficulty with the use of an EMAIL NETWORK. Each time one of us
visits her at home or talks with her on the phone, we share our awarenesses and
observations with all the others via our email chain. This gives us almost
immediate contact with each other, and each family member knows what the other
is doing.
Through this process, we have
been able to help each other and facilitate the difficult task of obtaining
valuable medical treatment for her mother.
On a Collision Course
Earlier this week, I (Gary)
managed to climb out of bed on the wrong side. As Anne left for work, we
parted with an uncomfortable lack of resolution, unusual for us.
I then opened my email and
found the following story. I had to read it 2 or 3 times (a true
projection of my blocked space) before I finally received its
message.
It is reported that during World War II the
admiral of a battleship at sea got word of a blip on the radar screen coming
steadily and speedily in his direction. The officer gave the order to the
unidentified vessel.
"Please change your
course."
The reply: "YOU change
your course."
The officer retorted:
"I repeat. I am an admiral. Please change your course."
The response returned,
"I am a seaman third class. Change your direction."
The officer bellowed:
"I am a battleship. Alter your course!"
The answer: "Change
YOUR course! I am a lighthouse!"
Our culture is en route to
collide with basic, [immovable] Truth -- Jesus Christ. His course will not
change. The question is:
"Will ours?"
"To [those] who had believed Him Jesus said, 'If you hold to My
teachings, you are really My disciples. Then you will know the truth, and
the truth will set you free'." (John 8:31-32)
-- Marilyn Anderes in "Good News" magazine, July/August 1999
The timely sender of this
message was Rev. Dave Wilkinson. It was part of his SOUND BITES (Something
to chew on that is good for the soul) ministry I receive each morning.
Dave provides this free service in memory of his late son, Dustin. You can
learn more about Dave's efforts by going to going to The Caregiver Companion web
site at: http://www.caregivercompanion.com/11spirit2wilkinson.htm
Or if you wish to subscribe to
his free service, email him at: soundbites@firstumcgb.org
and give your name and say, “Subscribe SOUND BITES your_e-mail_address.” Remember
to tell him The Caregiver Companion sent you.
Free Things
for Caregivers
Legislation
for Caregivers
The following information is
condensed from the Cargivers Count web site at" http://www.caregiverscount.com/
We suggest you visit for a
more complete review of the National Family Caregiver Support Program that was
just passed by Congress and signed by President Clinton.
One of the more important
measures in this bill
includes "a proposal to provide a $3000 tax credit for family caregivers
and legislation to provide actual first year funding for the NFCSP".
"Funds
will be provided to states to use their aging networks to provide quality
respite care and other support services such as information on available
resources; assistance with locating services and caregiver training; counseling
and support. Such services improve the caregiver's ability to provide care, help
preserve the family unit, prevent abuse and neglect and minimize out-of-home
placements".
You can
sign up for a free email newsletter about upcoming caregiver legislation at:
http://www.caregiverscount.com/
Also,
they can use your assistance in lobbying for caregiver legislation. This
site contains links and addresses for contacting legislators.
We will
keep you informed of additions to this site through this newsletter.
Book Review
for Caregivers
If you are like I (Gary) am, you are a
"victim" for a good Irish blessing, especially one with "down to
earth" photos to give it special meaning. We highly recommend An Irish
Blessing, A Photographic interpretation by Cyril A. Reilly and Renee Travis
Reilly, Sorin Books, P.O. Box 1006, Notre Dame, IN 46556-1006.
We close this newsletter with the blessing
and one of the
photos to impress you with the depth and beauty of this
book.
It can be ordered from our friends at , www.horizonbooks.com
through their secured site.
An
Irish Blessing
May the blessing of light be with you-
Light outside and light within
May sunlight shine upon you and warm
your heart
'Til it glows like a great peat fire
So that the stranger may come and warm himself by it,
And also a friend.
May a blessed light shine out of the two
eyes of you
Like a candle set in two windows of a house,
Bidding the wanderer to come in out of the storm.
May the blessing of rain - the sweet, soft
rain - fall upon your spirit
And wash it fair and clean.
May it leave many a shining pool where the blue of heaven shines,
And sometimes a star.
May the blessing of earth - the good,
rich earth - be with you.
May you ever have a kindly greeting for those you pass
As you go along its roads.
May the earth be soft under you when
you rest upon it,
Tired at the end of the day.
May earth rest easy over you when at the last you lie under it.
May the earth rest so lightly over you
That your spirit may be out from under it quickly,
And up, and off, and on its way to God.
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The sunset photo, "Break Through"
(used with the Einstein quote) can be purchased in note cards ($3.00 ea. or
$10.00 for 4) or enlargements up to 16" x 20". Contact THE GIFTED EYE,
Char Follis, (284) 693-1948, 979 Absequami Trail, Lake Orion, MI 48362
Other photos by Char can be found at The Caregiver Companion web site: http://www.caregivercompanion.com/11depression1gary.htm
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we would appreciate this information so that we may utilize it.
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Caregiver Companion newsletter is copyrighted.
DISCLAIMERS:
The material and
information presented in the Caregiver Companion newsletter is provided
for the sole purpose of educating and informing the reader. It should
not be accepted as an attempt to prescribe, recommend or treat in any manner.
If the reader should have any
questions or concerns about the application or reliability of the information
and material found within the Caregiver Companion newsletter, they
should undertake additional research and contact their licensed professionals
for information, opinions and/or recommendations.
Material in the Caregiver
Companion newsletter that does not carry the byline of Anne W. Wakenhut
and/or Gary W. Wakenhut is not necessarily the opinion of or supported by
www.caregivercompanion.com.
OWNERSHIP:
The URL
www.caregivercompanion.com and the Caregiver Companion newsletter are
owned by the COLLECTING CONSORT (dba: "Collecting Consort" owned by
Gary W. Wakenhut, Box 272, Lakeview, MI 48850)
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