Report on the Books.  Since last October I have published four books through Create Space publisher.  To date 278 copies of “A Long Dark Night – A Caregiver’s Journey With Dementia” has been printed.  This is my book telling about caring for June.  It is available by clicking on https://www.createspace.com/3699557.   “The Miter” is my auto-biography  ( https://www.createspace.com/3723824) and 39 copies published thus far.  ”Non nobis, Domine!” tells the story of the Convergence Movement in the Charismatic Episcopal Church, and 76 copies have been published (https://www.createspace.com/3728372)  Many additional copies have been downloaded in Africa, Europe and the Philippines through a special DROPBOX link I sent to our clergy in those nations.  And finally, earlier this month I published “The Gift That Keeps On Giving” (https://www.createspace.com/3766299).  39 copies thus far have been published.  This book tells how the Gifts and Ministries of the Holy Spirit work in a person’s life and the church.  Here I share teachings based on Scripture and personal experience.  Proceeds from all sales go toward my home care of June.  You are welcome to click on the above links, and decide if you wish to order.

Yesterday I attended Forest Road United Methodist Church (our home church where we were married and our two daughters baptized).  I was scheduled to preach but the pastor’s plans got interrupted and he returned mid-week.  They are beginning a Thursday evening (6 p.m.) study of The Revelation this week and I hope to attend.  I also attend and sometimes moderate a study of the Prophets at the KIRK, a community church in Forest, VA.  And on Sunday morning I moderate the adult Sunday school class at St Stephen Episcopal Church, and this coming Sunday we will begin a study of the Acts of the Apostles.  We had been studying the proper Gospel for each Sunday but the class members wish to study a book and left to me the decision.

So you see I am keeping busy.  Last Saturday I went to see “Red Tail”, the first movie I have seen in many years.  Really great film!  True story!  I am waiting for all my 1099s to come so I get put together the tax information for my CPA.  I hope to get money back.  The month is almost over, and hopefully Punxsutawaney Phil, the groundhog, will not see his shadow, and we have an early spring.  I pray you have a great day, and February will be a good month for you.

The potential bed sores are disappearing, thanks to the air mattress we now are using on her bed, and the rotation from her lift chair to several hours in the bed in the afternoon.  She continues to sing and talk excessively, most of which we do not understand.  Most nights she sleeps the entire night; some time awakens during the night singing, laughing, talking which makes the remainder of the sleep time impossible for me.  I seem to stay tired.  I have a doctor’s appointment in early February.  Maybe I can get an energy booster.

This is a picture of Gail and Melanie at the party.  Should you wish to drop June a card, the address is 208 Leewood Drive, Lynchburg VA 24503.  Sometimes she understands the mail, and we show her the cards she receives.

We still have had no real snow fall in Lynchburg.  Get a dusting around the area.  But it is cold.

Have a great week as we come to the close of January 2012.

My newest book is now available for $12.99 by clicking on https://www.createspace.com/3766299 and placing the order.  In it I do teaching on the Gifts and Ministries of the Holy Spirit.  I was blessed recently with an email from a lady in Estonia who said she had been reading my blog for many months, keeping up with our life.  I deeply appreciate this, and the kind words she had to say about my caregiving.  ”The Long Dark Night … A Journey With Dementia” is the book telling about the ups and downs I have had in trying to understand what was going on with June, and how now I believe God has used the experience of caring for her to make me a better person.  You can purchase the book by clicking  https://www.createspace.com/3699557  and within a few days you will have the book.  The air mattress Hospice ordered for her hospital bed seems to be helping in healing the skin breaks and preventing more.  We have not been able to find a medication for the stiffness and resistance she gives when we try to move her.  It is part of the Lewy Body Dementia and the rigidity makes it difficult in positioning her so to relieve the pressure on her spine.  I have my LBD support group next week and perhaps someone will be able to help with suggestions.

I am preaching at Forest Road United Methodist Church, our original home church, Sundays, Jan 22 and 29 while the Pastor is away.  I continue to moderate the adult class at St Stephen Episcopal Church on Sundays, and attend, and sometimes teach, the Bible class at the KIRK Church on Wednesdays.  It is now off to Church.  Have a blessed week.

To update you on June, there is not much to say.  She is holding her own pretty much.  Hospice nurse and Ms Rush, our Care Provider, discovered potential skin breaks on her back.  I saw Dr. Driscoll who leads our LBD Support group last week and he recommended a jell fill cushion for her chair.  Hospice also ordered an air mattress for her bed.  Both have been placed in use, and we pray will solve the problem.  Bed sores and skin breaks can be very harmful.  We continue to give her thickening in her beverages to prevent choking and strangling, and Ms Rush says we need to place her on a diet because she is developing love handles around the waist.  It is difficult to do because she is unable to tell us if she is hungry or has had enough to eat.  Anything put to her mouth she opens to take it, even my finger if I tease her.  This weekend I spent most of the hours sitting with her, holding hands, watching TV.  She does a lot of looking at me when I do that.

I seem to be over my UTI and I believe some of my back pain was attributed to that infection.  I still have lower back pain but not as severe as it was before Cipro for the Urinary Tract Infection.  I am struggling with the decision as to whether I will attend the March House of Bishops meeting in Orlando.  I enjoy the fellowship of the other bishops, but I contribute nothing to the meetings since I am retired and have no church or diocese.  Our Wednesday Bible class at the Kirk resumes this week and I am teaching on Hosea the prophet.  I need to put away my outdoor Nativity scene but since it is Epiphanytide I guess it is appropriate to display until Ash Wednesday.  i will eventually get it back in stowage.  About some things I tend to procrastinate, and with others I “do it yesterday”.  Blessings to you and all.

Boots, our lazy dog, is trusting all will go well for the family in this new year.  I began the year with our traditional family breakfast (oyster stew) and went to St Stephen Episcopal Church for worship.  My appetite has been very poor since going on Cipro for my Urinary Tract Infection but I had a desire for Tacos yesterday and Ms Rush, our Care Provider, fixed all of us Tacos for lunch.  June and I spent Sunday afternoon holding hands, watching TV, and making the most of conversation as best I could understand what she said.  This morning she was all smiles when we got her up, and when I went to her after breakfast she was still smiling.  She spends the day in the Den, napping, possibly watching TV, but seems to note who I am when I walk into the room, greet her and get a smile in return.

This morning I have been working on year end financial reporting for the household account getting ready for tax filing later.  Home care for June in 2011 cost $50,110.45, and thanks be to God for providing through friends the extra money needed beyond our income to meet this expense.  Nursing home would have been even more, but having her home I know the care she is receiving.  Dementia is costly in more ways than just finances.  The stress from uncertainty weighs heavily, and my lower back pain could be related to stress.  Hospice has been a blessing this past year.    I go tomorrow for a follow-up to my family physician and will find out more about the UTI problem.  At least the localized kidney pain has stopped.

I am speaking Tuesday at the Altavista Rotary on Dementia, and Wednesday starting the new year at our Kirk Church Bible Study teaching on Hosea.  Now to do some study in preparation for that assignment.  Have a great day and a Happy New Year.

The story has brought about all kinds of unexpected responses.  Today my cousin Rosie Hampton phoned and said a person who read the story was moved by it, and wanted to do something to help me.  She brought a check that pays for ONE WEEK of my Care Providers.  What a blessing!

The beard and hair are back to normal.  Daughter Melanie gave me a hair cut after I was Santa for the First Bank and Trust in Forest on Wednesday.  The bedroom we now use as the Infirmary and where I sleep next to June has two closets that were never completely finished.  Brother Ron came yesterday from Richmond and put in ceilings in the closets.  We have been getting “visitors” in the night in the person of small squirrels.  Apparently I have a family living in somewhere in the attic or basement, and in the night they start wandering, and enter the closet.  But then this morning at 3:10 Boots (our dog) alerted me that something was under the day bead in the Den. I saw nothing but didn’t sleep much the rest of the night (or would it be called morning?).  We have an area under part of the house that is about 4 feet from ground to above flooring (or ceiling), and I have sticky pads at the door to catch crickets or any thing else that may want to enter the finished basement area.  This morning I found a small squirrel caught on the sticky pad which must have been what Boots was upset about, and went down the steps into the basement.  This is the second little squirrel caught in a week’s time.

Fed Ex delivered this lovely bouquet of flowers this afternoon from Archbishop Tom Hines in Manila.  June said something when I showed them to her.  The speech is not always understood.  I have them on a table in the Den where she is able to see them.  The Patriarch of our Church sent us a Omaha steak box, and Fred Gruber, my broker, UPSed Christmas dinner in form of Honeybaked Ham, roast chicken and all the fixings.

I plan to go to Christmas Eve Mass at St Stephen Episcopal Church and then spend Christmas day with June.  With our daughters we had Christmas last weekend.  They are with their children Christmas so we will be alone.

Thanks to Attorney Aubrey Rosser of Altavista, I have a codicil to my Trust that assures June’s home care in the event I precede her in death.  The beneficiary of all the insurance policies and IRA now are assigned to the Trust.  Len Rogers was helpful in arranging this legal matter – gratis!

If you have not purchased a copy of my books, you can easily do so on line with a credit card by clicking the following as the link pertains to the appropriate book.  Profit from the sales go toward my home caring of June.

“A Long Dark Night —  A Caregiver’s Journey With Dementia” at Create Space eStore:   https://www.createspace.com/3699557 that is $12.99, and the story of my life is told in The Miter – Autobiography that is $15.95 https://www.createspace.com/3723824.

I greet you with a HAPPY JESUS BIRTHDAY and pray your observance of His Birth will be a glorious time.

For a few weeks during the night Boots (our dog) has been upset over something in the closets in our bedroom.  We have previously caught two chipmunks in the house, and a “flying” squirrel.  Because of Boots insistence that something was in the closets, I placed stick pads inside the closet doors.  This morning about 12:10 BOOTS was very active at my closet door.  One night last week I put her in her kennel because of her behavior, and threatened to do so this morning, only to note that one of the stick pads corner was visible outside the closet door.  That meant something inside had moved it.  Cautiously I opened the door, and there stuck to the pad was a small flying squirrel.  He now is in squirrel heaven, and my brother Ron is going to put in ceilings in the two closets which i hope will stop their entrance into our bedroom.  How they are getting into the wall of the house is beyond my understanding.  I have blocked every visible crack or hole.

We are expecting Gail and Darryl along with Wayne, Andrea and the twins this weekend.  Christmas early for the family.  Saturday night we have AT HOME or OPEN HOUSE to which we have invited friends.  I don’t know how many will visit us but we are planning a simple get-together from four o’clock to seven o’clock pm.  Sunday I am to be Saint Nicholas for the children’s sermon at Our Savior Lutheran Church, and Santa Claus Sunday night at Forest Road United Methodist Church. Next week I have two Santa appearance and then I can shave my beard.

We are encouraging people who know others dealing with Dementia issues to give our book as a Christmas gift.  There is still time to order by clicking on this link “A Long Dark Night —  A Caregiver’s Journey With Dementia” at Create Space eStore:   https://www.createspace.com/3699557.   There is also available my autobiography  if you want to know something about my life and ministry: The Miter – Autobiography: https://www.createspace.com/3723824.

We pray this Advent season has been a blessed preparation for you as we approach the celebration os the Gift God gave in Himself as Jesus.  Happy Jesus Birthday.

“A Long Dark Night – A Caregiver’s Journey With Dementia” has been selling good, and I got my first royalty check transferred to my checking account several days ago.  Thanks to all who have purchased the book.  We have published over 230 copies so far.  If you have not gotten a copy you can click on this link and it will take you to the order page:  https://www.createspace.com/3699557   It is $12.99 per copy, and would make an excellent Christmas gift for someone dealing with Alzheimer or Lewy Body Dementia.

Also this week I published an autobiography.  After it came available, I remembered other things that might have been included, but 310 pages to read about my life, ministry, and family should be enough.  It too can be purchased by clicking on  - https://www.createspace.com/3723824.  It is entitled “The Miter” and is $15.95 plus ordinary shipping.

Ms Rush, one of our Care Providers, says June is beginning to have problems in swallowing, and the Hospice nurse has ordered something that mixed with her liquids is suppose to help in this problem.  She is sleeping good, and bodily functions normal.  Her appetite is good, and like a little bird, opens her mouth whenever anything eatable is introduced.

I am preaching at St Mark’s Episcopal Church, Clifford VA tomorrow.  Usually I am St NIcholas but this year the collection of stuff animals will not be held and Father Hubbard has invited me to come and preach.  I am also speaking at the Forest Rotary next Wednesday about Dementia, and may be able to sell a few books.

For those in warmer parts of the world, it is cold here.  Last Tuesday I was driving to the grocery and saw the sun glistening off the snow that had fallen during the night on the Blue Ridge Mountain range.  Beautiful!  It can stay on the mountain; I am not looking forward to it falling around my house.  As long as it snows during the night, and melts by 3 p.m. that will satisfy me completely.

Have a blessed day!

My book about caregiving continues to sell good, and if you know someone dealing with dementia, it would make an excellent Christmas gift.  It is easy to order online by clicking https://www.createspace.com/3699557  and choose ordinary postage. The company is quick in filling orders.  The book is only $12.99 plus shipping.

June has continued to have good days.  She sleeps good at night, and sleeps most mornings in her lift chair following bath and breakfast.  Most afternoons she is awake, talking, singing.

Today is called “Black Friday” in America because it is the major shopping day of the year with tremendous sales that will boost merchants out of the “red” into the “black” economy.  And I have to work as Santa from two to five o’clock in the afternoon.  Hopefully by then the major shopping fever will have subsided.  Have a blessed weekend, and may all be thankful for the blessings we do have.

From the first diagnosis of her dementia my prayer has been that I outlive her so to be able to take care of her.  For some reason today it has been on my mind as to what I would do were I to be diagnosed with a terminal illness that would take me before her.  Morbid thoughts, but reality.  I sat at the Mall this afternoon “people watching”, and thought how many shoppers are going about their business in a nonchalant way, and I am thinking how I would live differently were I to be able to live the last 56 years all over again, knowing what I know now.  I would love June more deeply, cherish her more fully, enjoy her more completely.  We never realize what we have until we have lost it.

Daughter Melanie and Paul, sister Charlotte and Glenn, are preparing Thanksgiving dinner and will bring to our house.  We will all share together.  ”A Long Dark Night – A Caregiver’s Journey With Dementia” is selling good, and if you have not purchased your copy click on https://www.createspace.com/3699557  and place your order.  It is real easy.  $12.99 plus regular shipping.  It will make an excellent gift at Christmas for anyone dealing with dementia.

I wish you a Happy Thanksgiving.