December 28, 2020

About five years ago I found myself driving home from visiting my folks and mumbling to myself, “Geez, I’m so glad to leave. I feel like I’ve been spending time on another planet. Is that ME in a few years? Crap!”

And so it began, the realization that I was getting older and my folks, well, they were not only really old, they were declining cognitively and blissfully unaware of it. So I started a blog titled “Drifting Toward Planet Elderly,” and wrote about my family’s journey with dementia. It was part family history, part therapy for me, and an opportunity to share the journey with other families dealing with dementia.

These days there is not much more to write about my parents and their journeys. Dad died in 2016 and in 2017 I moved Mom to Columbia, MO where I live. She is 94 and her dementia is advancing. Fortunately, she’s doing okay; she is safe and content living in a wonderful skilled nursing community called Woods Central at Lenoir Woods. Today she was scheduled to get her first dose of the COVID vaccine and I’m sure she complained about it.

Not wanting to end the blog just yet, I decided to change the name. I am now a resident of Planet Elderly, so why not explore the good, the bad, and the ugly about being an elderly person in the U.S. at this time? A little angst, a bit of humor, some poetry, a few shared cartoons now and then…who knows what will turn up? There may even be some posts from some of my gal pals who are also dealing with the good, the bad, and the ugly of growing older.