There Will Be Miracles – Our Dementia Story

Inspiration, , ,

There Will Be Miracles – Our Dementia Story. We cherish precious moments. Specific flashes of time out of time. These moments feel eternal in the way they abide within us. We know we will remember them forever. When we require their return to our present life we are able to illuminate them with the floodlight of our imaginations. These are our personal miracles.

The Usual Definition of a Miracle. Expansive adjectives most often describe the miraculous. Extraordinary. Amazing. Outstanding. Inexplicable. Improbable. These words lead us to expect earth-shaking events. Burning bushes or parting seas. Let us reconsider these impressions.

In her Memoir Ordinary Times Nancy Mairs Says… “I always expect spiritual insights to shower like coins of light from on high. When instead they bubble up from the mire like will-of-the-wisps, I am invariably startled.”

Spiritual Insights are Glimpses of the Underneath of Life. Illumination of what is usually hidden. Veiled from view by the hustle of our days until we are somehow stopped for an instant of stillness. We may see then what is beneath the surface and truer than surface can ever be.

Such Moments are Miraculous. Imagine a floodlight. Recall when you have experienced an instant of brilliance seemingly out of nowhere. Always a welcome arrival. Urge the wattage of that brilliance to climb higher still. Luxuriate in the warmth of so much brightness. The surprise. The wonder. This has happened to me. There Will Be Miracles – Our Dementia Story.

Each of Us has Deposited these Moments in Our Memory Banks. Smiles that touch our hearts. Flashes of beauty beneath the retina of the inner eye. We can revitalize them in an instant. No intense pondering necessary. I consider this a miracle. A personal miracle accessible to my story and yours. Here is a simple exercise for accessing your personal miracles. I invite you to try it.

Grasp Your Memory Moment in Midair. Cradle it in the palm of your hand. Feel it ripple through your fingers. Follow as it moves up your arm and into your heart. Add to these inner sensations whatever surrounds you at this instant. Sounds. Scents. The touch of the air on your skin.

Revel in Sensual Richness Brought to Life. Drop gently out of the present. Loosen its hold on your spirit until you are fully embraced by your memory moment. Drop gently out of place. Travel wherever the incandescence of your imagination may carry you. Linger. Savor. Enjoy.

You Have Been Transported. Recognize the rapture. Edge aside whatever may attempt to distract you from your peace of mind. Do so gently, in order not to disturb the still place where your psyche allows itself to rest. When you are ready – gradually return to your now. Favor yourself with these interludes often.

Amidst Adversity Miracles Appear. This has been my experience and my blessing. Always unexpected. Often when most needed. A glimpse of light which fortifies and sustains. This exercise nurtures that ray of hope in my consciousness and enhances its glow. I share it with you.

Each of Us is a Repository of the Miraculous. All we need do is activate the amperage of our imaginations and direct that immense power within. The floodlight we each possess reveals our personal re-vision. I know this firsthand. There Will Be Miracles – Our Dementia Story.

LESSON LEARNED – Miracles are With Me Every Moment. Miracles are With You Too.

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You possess storytelling magic. Keep on writing whatever may occur.  Alice Orr. https://www.aliceorrbooks.com

Alice Orr is a number of things. Teacher. Storyteller. Former Editor and Literary Agent. Author of 15 novels, 2 novellas, a memoir, and No More Rejections: 50 Secrets to Writing a Manuscript that Sells. She blogs for writers and readers at https://www.aliceorrbooks.com.

Alice’s Memoir is titled Lifted to the Light: A Story of Struggle and Kindness. At the beating heart of this moving story a woman fights her own disease disaster. All her life she has taken care of herself. Now she faces an adversary too formidable to battle alone. An inspiring read available HERE.

Praise for Lifted to the Light: A Story of Struggle and Kindness: “I was lifted. I highly recommend this book as a can’t-put-down roadmap for anyone.” “Outstanding read. Very, very well written. Alice Orr is an amazing author.” “Honest, funny, and consoling.” “Ms. Orr is a fine, sensitive author and woman. I have read other books by her and am glad I haven’t missed this one.” “Couldn’t put it down.”

All of Alice’s Books are available HERE .

Ask Alice Your Crucial Questions. What are you most eager to know? About Alice and Jonathan’s experience? About telling your own stories? Ask your questions in the Comments section at the end of this post. Or email Alice at aliceorrbooks@gmail.com. She would love to hear from you.

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Ponder the Preciousness – Our Dementia Story

Dementia Story, , , ,

Ponder the Preciousness – Our Dementia Story. Once Upon a Time – on a day just past fifty-two years ago – I was too harried to be nervous. The next several hours were my wedding gift for my husband-to-be. My Jonathan. I had kept it all a secret. He had no idea what was planned.

A Hundred Details were Yet to be Addressed. I had made many lists as always. Thank heaven for that because soon our little house on Burnup Road in Black River, New York would be overrun by my women friends impatient to take charge .

Ours was a Homemade Wedding from the Start. This day would be everything my previous marriage that crashed and vanished had never been. No upscale impressive venue. No silver embossed matchbooks. Only the golden-hearted efforts of our precious personal community.

The Cake was Baked by a Relative’s Roommate. The turkey and ham were from the ovens of our mothers in law. Hors d’oeuvres and salads were concocted in our own kitchen that very day by a sisterhood of strong women wielding vegetable peelers and powerful opinions.

The Sisterhood Forced Me Out Eventually. I had found my nervousness and was causing too much fuss. Off I went with a bridesmaid to be gowned in hippie homespun still waiting for a hem and soft slippers to keep my clumsy self from stumbling down the aisle.

I Cannot Remember Getting to the Church. Jonathan and I walked to the altar together. Nobody owned me so I did not need to be given away. Neither did he. I can remember every step we took. To this very day – I Ponder the Preciousness – Our Dementia Story.

I Designed the Ceremony to Reflect Our Love. Still, what happened that day astonished even me. Thanks to the passion of the players. A profound reading from a beloved friend. A soulful song composed and performed by my brother. An inspired blessing by a former priest in flowing robes. Jonathan reveled in everything as I had hoped he would.

Also Surprises I had not Planned. My son created beautiful baskets of wildflowers and roses for my bridesmaids. A vintage Cadillac at the church door whisked us away to our Burnup Road reception. Coworkers had filled our bathtub with ice and champagne bottles.

All Day Long Memories were Born. Moments that caught in our hearts. Moments to split your seams with laughter. Moments bathed by tears. Moments as sunlit as the yellow rose bouquet I never tossed to anyone because I could not bear to let it go.

We have Lived a Half-Century of Memories Since Then. Adventures. Struggles. Triumphs. Disappointments. Joy. Astonishment. Regret. Celebration. Tragedy too because our Once Upon a Time has been reality not fairy tale. Now we Ponder the Preciousness – Our Dementia Story.

LESSON LEARNED – Perpetually ponder every preciousness.

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You possess storytelling magic. Keep on writing whatever may occur. AliceOrr https://www.aliceorrbooks.com

Alice Orr is a number of things. Teacher. Storyteller. Former Editor and Literary Agent. Author of 15 novels, 2 novellas, a memoir, and No More Rejections: 50 Secrets to Writing a Manuscript that Sells. She also blogs for writers and readers at https://www.aliceorrbooks.com.

Alice’s Memoir is titled Lifted to the Light: A Story of Struggle and Kindness. At the beating heart of this moving story a woman fights her own disease disaster. All her life she has taken care of herself. Now she faces an adversary too formidable to battle alone. An inspiring read available HERE.

Praise for Lifted to the Light: A Story of Struggle and Kindness: “I was lifted. I highly recommend this book as a can’t-put-down roadmap for anyone.” “Outstanding read. Very, very well written. Alice Orr is an amazing author.” “Honest, funny, and consoling.” “Ms. Orr is a fine, sensitive author and woman. I have read other books by her and am glad I haven’t missed this one.” “Couldn’t put it down.”

All of Alice’s Books are available HERE .

Ask Alice Your Crucial Questions. What are you most eager to know? About Alice and Jonathan’s experience? About telling your own stories? Ask your questions in the Comments section at the end of this post. Or email Alice at aliceorrbooks@gmail.com. She would love to hear from you.

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http://twitter.com/AliceOrrBooks/
http://goodreads.com/aliceorr/
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Forget About the Eggshells – Our Dementia Story

Dementia Story, , ,

Forget About the Eggshells – Our Dementia Story. In two weeks, my husband Jonathan and I will have been married fifty-two years. Which does not count our half-year courtship before the wedding happened. We met in March and spent the next few months in tentative mode, circling one another from afar. Our dance among the eggshells had begun.

The Tempo was Twitchy-Jittery-Nervous at First. I detected signals of interest from his side of the dance floor and expected an approach at any moment. But Jonathan was shy. Twitchy-jittery-nervous continued long after the band had packed up and gone home. Until my patience wore characteristically thin and I made the first move.

We have Traversed the Dance Catalog Ever Since. Begun and middled and continued with the Back and Forth Two-Step. Leading weight on his foot. Then leading weight on mine. Choreography and competition. Often at the expense of the eggshells scattered beneath our feet. The same way eggshells are scattered beneath every couple I have ever known.

Which Brings Me to the Six Arguments. I have a theory that every long-term relationship features six signature arguments. Three serious and better suited to the boxing ring than the dance floor. Three frivolous but still worthy of a turn among the eggshells.

Specifics Vary from Couple to Couple. Sometimes we strut. Other times we glide in and out of reach. Occasionally we face off like the Cock-A-Doodle-Doos in the picture above. Always engaged between ballet and brawl in a configuration all our own. We will confine serious contention to private dances for now. The three frivolous fights Jonathan and I favor step out as follows.

Full-Moon Minuet. Whatever geography we may currently inhabit, our heckle over the heavens remains the same. He says, “The moon is full tonight.” I look up and respond, “Not quite,” pointing out a flatness at the lower edge. We carry on in that vein, month after month, year after year, even when the sky is mostly overcast. And both of us are relatively right.

Tune-the-TV Tango. The notes of this number shift with every technological advance. Our present debate quick steps each evening. To binge or not to binge? Jonathan’s occasional short-term memory glitch makes complicated narratives a challenge. We make a joke of it and muddle through. Forget About the Eggshells – Our Dementia Story

Time-versus-Distance Drag. Which is a drag because, frivolous or not, this disagreement can take on heat. Something sort of significant is at stake. In New York City, subway options are the issue. Uptown or downtown or crosstown? We each have pet preferences for getting wherever whenever. Out of town, thank heaven for GPS or murderous mayhem might ensue.

We could Easily Settle our Signature Silliness. Check calendar phases of the moon. Google binge and non-binge options before screening. Clock travel times from one subway stop to the next. Phone-map rural routes in advance. We could make smoothness of communication our first priority, as is relentlessly advised for all relationships. Especially relationships like Jonathan’s and mine where eggshells abound because dementia is in the mix.

Simple as That – Decades of Atonal Music would Fall Silent. We’d leave the dance floor. Eggshells everywhere would be safe from our tromping toes. But what would we do then? Simper across a table-width of trumped-up tranquility? Would our rooster reds still reflect a fierce feisty sun – setting though that sun may be? We think not. Forget About the Eggshells – Our Dementia Story.

LESSON LEARNED – HERE COMES THE SUN. Doo doo doo doo. HERE COMES THE STORM. Doo doo doo doo.  IT’S ALL RIGHT.

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You possess storytelling magic. Keep on writing whatever may occur. AliceOrr  https://www.aliceorrbooks.com

Alice Orr is a number of things. Teacher. Storyteller. Former Editor and Literary Agent. Author of 15 novels, 2 novellas, a memoir, and No More Rejections: 50 Secrets to Writing a Manuscript that Sells. She also blogs for writers and readers at https://www.aliceorrbooks.com.

Alice’s Latest Novel – A Time of Fear and Loving – is Amanda and Mike’s second dance through eggshells. Every step takes them deeper into danger. Don’t miss the suspense. Don’t deny yourself the romance. Available HERE.

A Time of Fear & Loving

Praise for A Time of Fear & Loving. “I never want an Alice Orr book to end.” “Alice Orr is the queen of ramped-up stakes and page-turning suspense.” “Warning. Don’t read before bed. You won’t want to sleep.” “The tension in this novel is through the roof.”
“A budding romance that sizzles in the background until it ignites with passion.”
“The best one yet, Alice!”

All of Alice’s Books are available HERE .

Ask Alice Your Crucial Questions. What are you most eager to know? About Alice and Jonathan’s experience? About telling your own stories? Ask your questions in the Comments section at the end of this post. Or email Alice at aliceorrbooks@gmail.com. She would love to hear from you.

http://facebook.com/aliceorrwriter/
http://twitter.com/AliceOrrBooks/
http://goodreads.com/aliceorr/
http://pinterest.com/aliceorrwriter/