Full Transcript for When SHIFT Happens: Know When and How to Pivot

S1E13- "When SHIFT Happens: Know When and How to Pivot" Intro Music: Royalty Free Promo: BuzzSprout Services  Grand risings and runnings, family, and welcome back to our Joy in the Midst of It All podcast show. I am your host - Aminah Amarachi. Now, since our last episode some SHIFTS have happened.  New life has been birthed and seasoned lives have ascended. So, before we begin, I am taking this moment to acknowledge the cycles of life, our bookends, and all in between, who have graced us with their arrivals, shaped us along the way, and left me a legacy for which I pray that I never shame them in as I intend to leave one of my own.  It is as it was meant to be.  Thanks for all our sessions, Rev. Dr. Mama Helen Jones. Blessed restings. Lifting her families and communities up in light filled love and comfort. Now, let’s continue our journey… Have you ever been going along about your merry little way, when all of a sudden an instance of some experience makes its appearance on your path, and into your world, that leaves you pondering, “What in the hummus sandwich just happened?”  You know… something that bowls you over, leaves you reeling and/ or feeling overwhelmed, and caught off guard.  We’ve all been there, you know “When SHIFT happens.” Today’s Episode:  "When SHIFT Happens: Know When and How to Pivot" The year: The year of your choice The date: The one that transformed and transcended you beyond who you once were before SHIFT happened. The scene: Road Trip…Yes, another one of our many road trips. This time we were headed to visit family.  The places…well, let’s see, there was the Christian Book store, and Truck stop, and a live taping of a T.V. show to name a few…where the SHIFT happened… The Story: Allow me to preface this story with there are always signs and wonders that attempt to prepare you for the SHIFT before it happens, so let us all acknowledge that we often times ignore the pebbles that the Universe is pelting us with, until it’s too late and we are smacked with the 2x4 of the SHIFT hitting the fan..i.e. happening. With this in mind, the journey through Alzheimer’s is often presented as being solely or at least primarily a memory challenge for the person on the journey. Well, I am here to inform you that Alzheimer’s is way more than being forgetful. Ask any caregiver that has supported someone on the Alzheimer’s journey. God ahead, learn something new. As I mentioned in a previous episode there are between five to seven stages of the Alzheimer’s journey (depending on which model you choose to embrace), AND, at each stage there are warning sign, cues, name it what you will, that let you know that your loved one is moving into the next stage of the journey. For us, one of those moments was what we called “Clean Up on Aisle Nine.”  Remember back in the day, the saying was, “Once an adult, and twice a child.” Well, depending on how you manage your health and well being, your seasoned years and waning days may consist of you experiencing your second childhood as is the case with a loved one journeying through Alzheimers. So, with our Dad, a man of humble country boy dignity, we all knew when we had to deal Clean Ups on Aisle Nine, that SHIFT was happening. Stay tuned for more right after our first spotlight moment. Now, for our first spotlight moment... Spotlight Moment #1: Our FIRST spotlight moment is for our brother in love.  A man who loves his family, including his bonus in-love family.  A man who works hard. Laughs often, and blessed us with the support that allowed our Dede to walk tall, and with Dignity in whatever situation we may have found ourselves, when SHIFT happened.  Thanks, brother in-love for all you have been and done for our family.  Now, back to our show… Welcome Back Family Now, as we were making our way on one of our southern road trips, about midway, we stopped at a truck stop to gas up, get some snacks, and take a pit stop.  Our Dede went into the men’s room, and we, my sister and I into the ladies room.  At this juncture of our Dede’s journey, he was still getting up early, and pretty independently attending to his own daily living skills, sans cooking. However, after coming from the ladies room, and wondering what was taking him so long.  I knocked on the men’s room door, and called out to him.  He responded that he was okay, yet I sensed in his voice that he may have needed some support.  Now, for all your women caring for fathers, or men caring for mothers, know that there may come a time that you may have to support your loved one in a way that normally you wouldn’t find yourself doing, just because of some of society’s view on gender roles.  Well, let me tell you, when I opened that men’s room door (no other men were inside) and laid my eyes on our Dede trying to do his best to maintain his dignity, during a Clean Up On Aisle Nine SHIFT, that had caught both him and us off guard, I knew then that we have PIVOTED into a new stage of his journey. Though he quietly continued to try and order himself and the situation, I knew without any further need for conversation that as a father of daughters, and the eldest son of a family filled with sisters, he was quietly asking for support in the only way he knew how. By continuing to do his best, knowing that I would start pitching in to get the situation under control, get him squared away, so that we could be on our way.  Now, in order to handle this situation, my sister and I had to figure out how we were going to get clothing needed to support our Dede in attending to himself.  So, while my sister stayed with him, I jumped into the car, drove two or three exits, to locate a store to purchase everything that our Dede needed. Upon returning, we assisted him with getting himself situated, and making sure that we left the men’s room as we had found it before the SHIFT happened. We could see both the worry and relief on his face as we exited the men’s room.  We gathered our snacks, paid