Sex and Alzheimer’s: A Tangled Web
Sex and Alzheimer’s: A Tangled Web.
Couples
THE #1 REASON WE DON’T LIKE THE HOLIDAYS
Expectations. Say what you want about weariness, family dysfunction, commercialism, overeating and overspending. Or that the sun’s been AWOL for 7 days straight and what’s left of the snow looks like it fell from a volcano. Any number of stress disorders, worries about money, and disliking your own relatives (including Mother) count for nothing when a houseful’s coming, it’s your turn to entertain, and hubby’s at hockey with the kids. […]
CASTING A SPELL: EASIER THAN YOU THINK
Casting a spell is done by the lovers among us; no exorcism needed. Anyone who’s had a broken heart knows words and potions don’t work anyway. And, unless you’re a crazy cat lady, the likelihood of being under the spell of a lover’s words is far greater than being enchanted by a black cat. Loving someone calls out parts of us untouched by anything else. Loving and being loved is the genesis […]
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT BEING HAPPY
If you’re allergic to dogs, happiness is not a warm puppy. Metaphors about puppies, or anything else, are potentially dangerous. Even knowing where happiness — like any other emotion — occurs on the emotional spectrum doesn’t give the whole story. The only way to really know about someone else’s happiness is for you to ask and them to tell. Thinking in deep and different ways about happiness isn’t easy. Here […]
WHEN A CAREGIVER DIES
First published on Disability.gov For 70 years she put up with his (sometimes volcanic) rumblings. He doted on her with diamonds, and was a poorer father for it. The youngest of 5 much older siblings, she was babied into being passive and timid. He was a blustering bad boy who loved control; a lifelong natural at most things mechanical. He took seriously his duties as a man, a spouse, […]
IT TAKES TWO TO DO-SI-DO
Doin’ the do-si-do’s impossible to do by yourself. I spent lots of years hanging out with girlfriends or not hanging out at all, which was more likely to be true. Most times, none of us even had someone who filled in for love. I’m not ashamed to say there are times I would’ve settled – my need for affiliation was that great – at least for awhile. Although I did […]
THAT GIRL KEEPS FALLING ON HER BUTT
My balance, isn’t. So when I head straight toward the bushes at the entrance to my building it isn’t surprising. Bushes are a trigger in picturing my first (and only) experience as a new MSer in an MS support group. Recommended by my neurologist, the group experience was meant to help me cope with the way-past-due-diagnosis of my disease. Instead, it freaked me out. Walkers, wheelchairs, canes, crutches – and me, invisibly […]
HAVE SEX OR DO LAUNDRY?
No brainer, right? But for many women, it’s not as stupid a question as you’d think. The 21st Century may see a socioeconomic shift in favor of women, e.g. more upper-level management positions, more business owners, greater control of wealth. Success comes at a price; working harder for longer hours upsets the already teetering balance among personal, relationship, and family demands. Another price? Women are just as likely to experience […]
‘TIS THE SEASON TO LOSE BIG CLUMPS OF HAIR
“God bless us, every one.” I think Tiny Tim got really chilled waiting in line on Black Friday. And Cyber Monday. Come to think of it, somebody told me he was at the mall the other day, too. Amazing, since he hit the deck real hard when he lost a tug of war over some on-sale Levi’s. Gotta give him credit for gettin’ back on the horse. Poor guy. We […]
THE RORSCHACH WENCH.
I keep a book in my office and if I had a coffee table, it would be on it. It’s red, with a coffee spill down the front that’s dried into a Rorschach-kind of thing. Nifty for it to be in a therapist’s office. Inside, dozens of clients have written their “should’s”. It’s not instructive to describe what they said; more than likely, their self-flagellations are the same as yours. […]
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