{"id":2166,"date":"2016-11-15T16:02:56","date_gmt":"2016-11-15T22:02:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.caregiversunite.org\/?p=2166"},"modified":"2016-11-15T16:02:56","modified_gmt":"2016-11-15T22:02:56","slug":"in-a-world-of-advanced-directives-i-have-written-a-prayer-that-asks-god-for-my-long-term-care","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.caregiversunite.org\/?p=2166","title":{"rendered":"In a world of advanced directives, I have written a prayer that asks God for my long-term care."},"content":{"rendered":"

\"img_5415\"<\/a><\/p>\n

My Prayer by Alzheimer\u2019s Daughter<\/strong><\/p>\n

If I enter the darkness that enveloped the women in my family<\/p>\n

before me, I ask that you would provide a good caregiver. I want<\/p>\n

someone to care for me as a friend, and is empathetic to my plight.<\/p>\n

I want someone who will get to know my life history and cherish<\/p>\n

the time we spend together.<\/p>\n

If I am lost to whom I am, I want my \u201cfriend\u201d to tell me a story<\/p>\n

about a little girl fondly called Buffer by her daddy, who always<\/p>\n

cared deeply for the needs of her family. I’d like to hear about my favorite dog,<\/p>\n

Pittman, and how devoted he was to me.<\/p>\n

On some days, we may just live in the moment, and spend a happy<\/p>\n

day accomplishing the menial chores that we must perform.<\/p>\n

Grocery shopping could be an exercise in stimulating the senses,<\/p>\n

starting by looking at the pretty pastries in the bakery, then feel the<\/p>\n

firm tomatoes in the produce section and take in the lovely sights<\/p>\n

of all the other garden varieties colorfully displayed. I\u2019d want to<\/p>\n

grind some coffee beans just for the rich scent that emanates from<\/p>\n

the machine even though I don\u2019t drink coffee. She\u2019d let me push<\/p>\n

my own buggy and be patient with me when something of interest<\/p>\n

catches my eye. I could hold on to the buggy while bending down<\/p>\n

to peer into the big glass doors covering the freezer sections allowing me<\/p>\n

to exercise my limbs without the fear of falling.<\/p>\n

When it was time to check out, I would help lift the items from the<\/p>\n

buggy onto the conveyer belt, using my bent fingers in hopes of<\/p>\n

relief from their constant ache.<\/p>\n

My companion would protect me from the questioning eyes of<\/p>\n

those who didn\u2019t know what a special person I am. She would<\/p>\n

lovingly put her arm around me and tell me how much she loved<\/p>\n

me when I tried to go where I shouldn\u2019t. She\u2019d draw my attention<\/p>\n

to something I couldn\u2019t resist and I would follow her lead. We\u2019d<\/p>\n

move on toward the unknown together and I\u2018d be happy to be with<\/p>\n

someone I could trust and who knew what to do.<\/p>\n

The women who cared for my mother came and went. Some<\/p>\n

would know just how to enter her world and go along with her as<\/p>\n

they reached their daily goals of care. Others just did the<\/p>\n

minimum of effort and sat quietly, lost in the crossword puzzle or<\/p>\n

handheld device brought along to help pass the hours of sitting,<\/p>\n

taking the term private duty sitter literally, as they added up their<\/p>\n

weekly paycheck.<\/p>\n

My dear grandmother never forgot who I was, even when she was<\/p>\n

confined to her bed under the watchful eyes of three shifts of<\/p>\n

women, round the clock for several years. We had spent so much<\/p>\n

time together in her later years that the sound of my voice and the<\/p>\n

touch of my hand on her arm brought back my name to her lips<\/p>\n

that she was still able to say aloud. That\u2019s the kind of care I want<\/p>\n

to receive. From someone who will see me as I looked in the<\/p>\n

photograph taken when I was a young, beautiful woman, full of<\/p>\n

promise, fresh and unblemished. Not like the wrinkled, worn,<\/p>\n

volatile creature that I now may appear to be.<\/p>\n

I want someone who wants to be with me and thinks of things we<\/p>\n

can do together that will cause us to laugh and smile. She will<\/p>\n

show me, tell me, and sing with me. She will pray for me, include<\/p>\n

me and hold my hand. She\u2019ll read aloud short stories and bible<\/p>\n

verses that may still be hidden in the depths of my brain. I want to<\/p>\n

recognize something and sing that song buried beneath the noise<\/p>\n

and confusion that predominates my consciousness.<\/p>\n

She\u2019ll look into my eyes and see what I see. Even if my words are<\/p>\n

few or gone altogether, I\u2019ll still be there, hoping for a friendly<\/p>\n

voice, one that is full of love and compassion. She\u2019ll give me time<\/p>\n

to respond to her efforts and I\u2019ll try to find my way to the surface.<\/p>\n

She knows that I might be getting lost along the way, and it may<\/p>\n

take me a while to begin to understand what is happening. She\u2019ll<\/p>\n

know that I do best when things are done consistently; her<\/p>\n

sentences are short so I can comprehend and she\u2019ll give me one<\/p>\n

instruction at a time. I\u2019ll want her to stay with me. She won\u2019t<\/p>\n

leave because I\u2019m here and I\u2019m often in a fog and can\u2019t find my<\/p>\n

way.<\/p>\n

Please Lord, hear my prayer. If I begin to wander away from who<\/p>\n

I was, please seek me out; rescue me back into the flock as you<\/p>\n

have done before. Send a faithful servant in the form of a<\/p>\n

caregiver to keep me safe until I am in your arms forever.<\/p>\n

AMEN<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My Prayer by Alzheimer\u2019s Daughter If I enter the darkness that enveloped the women in my family before me, I ask that you would provide a good caregiver. I want someone to care for me as a friend, and is empathetic to my plight. I want someone who will get […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[99,21],"tags":[524],"class_list":["post-2166","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-caregiversunite-org","category-personal","tag-caregiverprayer"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4cxZR-yW","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.caregiversunite.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2166","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.caregiversunite.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.caregiversunite.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.caregiversunite.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.caregiversunite.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2166"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blog.caregiversunite.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2166\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2169,"href":"https:\/\/blog.caregiversunite.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2166\/revisions\/2169"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.caregiversunite.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2166"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.caregiversunite.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2166"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.caregiversunite.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2166"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}