Message from the President
Greetings friend, and welcome to the November Comfort Connection!
Last week I had the pleasure of spending a few days with my brother and sister-in-law. They came into Winnipeg for a funeral and stayed at my place.
At 56 years old, my brother lost his long-time job as a Financial Planning Manager with Mennonite Savings. It all started with a chance meeting in the hallway with a woman visiting from head office: he couldn’t remember her name. She thought that was odd and reported the incident. He submitted to a series of tests, and it was determined he had early-onset dementia. He lost his job.
Five years later now, and at the end of our few days together, my brother, a little hesitant at times, but very comfortable and sure of himself at other times, said to me, “There are things I can’t do. The word I’m looking for just doesn’t come.”
I replied, “But you are doing so well. There are so many things you CAN do!”
His countenance brightened, and he said, “Is that right!”
I’m so impressed with my brother’s intentional actions to stay on track. He runs every day. In fact, he came in first in his age group running a marathon a few months ago. He originally lost his driver’s license with the diagnosis, but took the test and passed, and got it back. He, with his wife’s help, have taken many steps to clean up their diet. We had extensive conversations on how to eat even cleaner. My brother grew up speaking a bit of German, but lost it early on due to lack of use. He is now learning German online to keep exercising his brain. He is working as a bicycle courier and quite enjoys it!
It's so easy to focus on our shortcomings and what we can’t do. I took
Dementia Capable Care this past August
—two of my staff are certified trainers.
The course really opened my eyes and changed my thinking to focus on positives. What is it the person affected by dementia can still do, rather than what they cannot do?
It’s a powerful course that will challenge your thinking! Contact us at 204-949-3234 if you or your facility is interested in this training.
Blessings,
Katherine
Katherine Peters
President & CEO
