Sometimes Tears Need Celebrated

Today I cried, but today I cried for good reasons and these tears need to be celebrated.

My day started off with a message from a friend who used to work with mum. She was asking if it would be OK to visit mum as she knew she turned 60 on Saturday. I was surprised how emotional this got me. Thank you Suzie for thinking of mum.

It was nice to know that people are thinking of mum and wanting to see her. Mum was a very sociable person and its fair to say that side was swept away very quickly once Dementia creeped in.

Today whilst visiting mum it was great to see how well she reacted to Helen, her pal, my mother in law. She always smiles when she sees mum and in turn makes me happy.

Mum and Helen did not interact much pre Dementia, their only thing in common was their children were dating. Yet now they have a strong friendship and a bond that cannot be broken.

I am thankfull for those who do not shy away from mum because she has Dementia, they see mum before they see Dementia.

Mum had one more visit today, that I was not expecting, Loretta.

Loretta and mum go way back and actually seeing someone go out their way during the day to give mum a visit made me so happy, especially when I was not expecting it. Its lovely to see people knowing where mum is and ensuring they visit.

Mum lights up so much to visitors and the more the merrier. As much as we love mum and she loves us, she may be bored of seeing us all the time...I can say it she's my mum. I certainly dont get big smiles everytime I enter a room unlike other people who visit not as often, and this is great. She needs to see these different faces.

Social interaction and stimulation is so important. So the more the merrier, if you know mum and have thought wanting to visit, please do.

Let's start including Dementia in our lives and not shy away from it, yes it can be distressing to see a loved one in a different way to you remember, but the joy you can guve them by simply visiting and holding hand for 20 minutes has got to outweigh that surely?

So yes, let's celebrate the tears of social inclusion and the joy it can bring to everyone involved.