Team Ruth

I've had this idea about "care teams" floating around in my mind for a number of years. But in the last week I was reminded of the concept when a friend and co-worker found out that her mother’s cancer had recurred. She was thinking of things that needed to be done for her mother - and we started talking about her support system.

The first time I was aware that I had assembled a support team was when I was diagnosed with a serious illness a number of years ago. It wasn’t the first time I had created a team but it was the first one that I recognized. It wasn’t until I finished a yearlong fairly brutal treatment program, that I realized that I wouldn't have survived that year without my team.

This morning I found something I wrote the following year:

I am on the train going to Berkeley and realizing that once again life has taken an unexpected and serious turn. I’ve been think about “care teams” or whatever I’ve called it in my mind since I was diagnosed quite a while ago.

Mother seemed to do well last year when I was in treatment, however, the last three or four months, her memory is getting impaired and she is frustrated easily. But until very recently she kept her wonderful independent spirit and joy for life. Last night she was depressed and crying. It is time to put together another team.

It started last night at dinner with our close friends. My friend is also on my mother’s durable power of attorney for health care and has known her for over 25 years. They immediately offered to help in any way they could.

Friends took a break from work and got me to the train. Another close friend is emailing me on my Blackberry websites of independent and assisted living places in Sacramento – just in case.

That was the last time I wrote about it and subsequently, we did form a great team for my mother. She moved to Sacramento and she and I assembled the team. Doctor, therapist (briefly), key family members and friends, hairdresser, care giver, etc….all became part of “Team Ruth”. And we knew that she could rely on everyone because we were all part of that team. However, this is the first time I’ve called it Team Ruth. And most of the team was there two years later when she was home with hospice care before she passed away. I guess that you could say that Yolo Hospice was the final member to join the team.

I’ve always wanted to write a book or article about this notion………I’m sure I’m not the first to think of it…but today it is just ramblings.

SWAN

I belong to a "giving circle". It is a group of women who get together once a month and by categories, present non-profit organizations that help people in our area. We have been in existence for over six years. My friend, Pam, founded the group. I was there. But she was the driving force. Over the years we have contributed almost $50,000 to local organizations. I have missed many meetings in the last three years - mainly due to my health issues and then my Mother moving up here. This year, I was determined to attend as much as I can.


Our meeting was tonight and once again I was struck by how much I enjoy this group of women. The attendees change each month. But once a member, always a member, unless you want to quit. So each meeting is a new experience. We share information about ourselves and organizations that we present. We also talk about making food for a homeless youth group (we provide dinner once a week), collect toiletries for a local women's shelter, etc... Every time I go, I am delighted to have been there.


Tonight I presented Yolo Hospice (http://www.yolohospice.org/), an organization very close to my heart because they helped us take care of my mother when we brought her home to die. I was so pleased that the group decided to donate to them. I hope that we all have a long time before having to deal with hospice or bereavement care for us or our families.....but what a blessing that they are there.


Recently SWAN (the giving circle) went online on Facebook...............please feel free to join at http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/pages/SWAN-Giving-Circle/101120038977?ref=mf.

Nonni

There really must be something to the circle of life. After my mother died fairly suddenly (although she was 89), Dylan's birth a couple of months later helped to heal my heart.

I love being his Nonni. Hours on end could be spent watching, playing and holding......

"And THAT's the way it is"

Rambling online - could be dangerous. Walter Cronkite dead at 92. A good long life. It is such a stark reminder of the way getting our news has changed. Hard to imagine events like Watergate, the JFK and MLK assassinations, etc... without him and to wonder how they would have been covered today. With 24 hours news and many "entertainment" shows, it seems we have been mourning the death of Michael Jackson on TV for many more hours of coverage than those events.

Just like Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein inspired so many journalism students for their coverage of Watergate, I like to think that Cronkite brought a better quality of news to the networks. But I don't think it lasted. Corporate involvement became bigger. It would be interesting to hear what Cronkite thought about today's news. And perhaps we will in the following days. When we learn more about what is happening on the streets of Iran from Twitter and Facebook than from the major networks - it is a very changed world from the days of Walter Cronkite broadcasts.

Dipping My Toes in the Water

Toes in the sand............wine in hand.....or something like that.

Seriously, I've been thinking about blogging for a long time. But worried that it appeared to be too self-involved. I want this to be about EVERYONE. I have lots to say, of course, about: volunteerism in America, the need for each and everyone of us to build a support team to survive, books, politics, and on and on. However, I think that the people I know will have lots to say about many subjects.......from technology to animal rights to kids to politics to recipes (that of course will lead to diets) to anything that is interesting. So, let's go for it!!