Wednesday, January 20, 2021

Magic Memories

 Greetings everyone! This is The Daily Bone and I'm your doggie reporter Chester L. W. Spaniel. 


We finally have some snow! It started Monday night after my ghostwriter had to work until 3am. She couldn't drive more than 30mph because of the icy roads and white-out conditions. Last night she only had to work until 9pm, but it snowed again, and she had to creep along, maybe hitting 40mph. She wonders, why is it that every time she drives anywhere on a snowy night, there's always some idiot in a pick-up truck tailgating with his high beams on? That's just rude! 


Well, that's all we have to say about that. So now, I'll get onto the main subject of today's report. 

As loyal long-time readers know, my ghostwriter is a nurse who works at a nursing home on evening shift. Many of her patients have different types of dementia. People with Alzheimer's disease lose their short term memory, but can still remember things from their lives in the past. They also sometimes get really agitated and confused in the evening, something that's called "Sundowner Syndrome." GW found that if she takes a little time, sits down with the confused person, and shows pictures of doggies and kitties, they start to remember all the good times they had with their own pets. This can usually make the person calm down and relax. One lady absolutely adores Westies. Another has happy memories of her childhood friend, Laddy the Collie. One other lady remembers her German shepherd named Flip. Several others just love doggies or kitties in general. Almost everyone can come up with some wonderful story about their childhood pets. Even people who have lost their ability to communicate, will still smile at funny pictures of me and my friends. (Don't worry. She only shows the pictures, and not any other information.) We just wanted our blogger friends know that some of their pet photos have made a lot of people very happy. Please keep those pictures coming!


Happy memories are something everyone needs to keep them going through these difficult times. 




















Hey, what's that?






Wow! 

13 comments:

  1. Oh, that is a FABulous idea!!!! GW ROCKS!! You knows, GW can show my furry face to anyone she wants....though, they must like slobbers...BOL!!! I agree, happy memories can change anyones scary or bad mood! And us furries are the bestest at it! High paw to your Moms!
    Oh, you snow looks amazin'!!! Sorry GW had to drive in it, and yes, it does always seem some yahoo has to shine their brights! what's with that anyhu??? Stay safe!
    Kisses,
    Ruby ♥

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  2. That rudeness happens to petcretary too...she gets tempted to try and slow down even more to tempt the rude driver to pass...then she can see further up the road with his lights ahead of hers, BOL!

    She had to drive in bad weather of late too...and clear the drive and walkways so pawppy can have safe stepping out there.

    We use pet therapy in pictures too, or other topics we know are of interest to a particular resident. Sometimes they like to watch animal movies as well.

    5 good minutes with a distraught resident can earn a whole evening of calm...(sometimes)!

    Enjoy your snow, Chester!

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  3. What a wonderful idea to make the peeps happy♥ Lucky you to get snow, Chester, but why do some have to be rude about it.

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  4. That is so sweet that Ghostwriter uses pictures of us pups and kitties to help those in her care. She has our full permission to use any of our pictures she wants. It looks like winter has finally arrived in our neck of the woods. We will keep our paws crossed that your mom has easy drives home.

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  5. I 100% agree with what GW said about dementia patients. My mom was in a memory care facility too.
    They had a resident dot out in the general population and a kitty named Remi ( short reminiscence). Remi was a tabby and oh how good he was a dividing his time among all the residence in the unit. They would giggle when they found him on their bed.
    Hugs cecilia

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    1. We had a resident kitty cat named Sammy at the nursing home. He always knew who needed his attention. But he's since retired, and went home to live with one of the physical therapists.

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  6. Aww, I love how your ghostwriter has helped all those people!! What a grreat idea. She can use pictures of me all she wants. Everybody loves pictures of me. :D

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  7. Before the pandemic, seeing me made a lot of the old soldiers at the VA where Mom and I volunteered remember their pets, too! Even if they hadn't spoken all day, they would see me and say, "I used to have a dog just like that!" Then Mom and I would listen to their stories about past pets that typically were nothing like me at all. But it was fun to listen to anyway. Your GW is bringing lots of smiles to lots of people who wouldn't have smiled without her. xoxo

    Love and licks,
    Cupcake

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  8. Well, YAY for snow, Chester. Enjoy it while it lasts. No snow here, but we keep hoping.

    The GW is a wonderful person to be so patient and kind to the dementia patients. Pets make great therapy animals for people, so we are not surprised that she is able to evoke happy memories for those people through talk about their pets.

    Woos - Lightning, Misty, and Timber

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  9. Since we never get snow, I have only driven in it a few times but I am REALLY bad at it! LOL! I hope Pierre's picture has made the Westie lover smile!

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  10. I hate driving in the snow when it is dark! I've done far too much of that! And those pickups with the high beams...
    Years ago we lived across the lane from a nursing home. Our cats used to go into the yard and visit the people. One of them used to walk in the door and visit in the rooms. I went and apologized profusely when the cat came home with a note tied to his collar telling me my cat was a frequent visitor. The nursing staff just wanted to let me know in case he was missed and that he was the highlight of many of the patient's evening! They even gave him a "going away" party when we moved. Thanks for the wonderful memories! Have a marvellously Happy Day!

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  11. I am glad you made it home safely in the storm. The showing dog and cat pictures is ingenious. It must be a great comfort to those poor souls.

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  12. First, Lady thinks your Lady is super brave for driving in conditions like that. It was like that here Thursday morning but fortunately our Lady could decide to turn around and work from home. Second, we think it is great to use pet memories to help others. Pets love really does last a lifetime!

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