November 1, 2024 • 18 mins
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Imagine transforming Halloween into a magical experience for older adults without the stress of sensory overload or mobility challenges. In our latest episode, Esther Kane takes you on a journey through tips and creative ideas designed to make the holiday season joyous and inclusive for seniors. Discover how maintaining familiar environments and simple routines can be the key to a peaceful celebration, and explore innovative costume ideas that creatively incorporate mobility devices, turning wheelchairs into regal thrones or playful train engines. Whether you're a caregiver or a family member, these practical strategies promise to enhance the holiday experience while keeping your loved ones comfortable and safe.
But it's not just about costumes and decorations; we also tackle the heartfelt topic of coping with grief during the holidays. Esther shares personal anecdotes to emphasize the importance of listening to seniors' experiences and emotions as they navigate this challenging time. Uncover ways to gently shift focus to the present and create new memories that honor the past while embracing the future. Your thoughts and experiences are invaluable to us, and we invite you to contribute to this ongoing dialogue aimed at enriching the holiday experiences for older adults within our community.
Thanks for listening!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hey everyone, welcome back to another podcast, the
Aging in Place Directory.
Today.
I know it's the day afterHalloween that this podcast is
coming out, but I wanted to talkabout some tips of Halloween so
hopefully you can use it fornext year.
But also I'm going to betalking about just the holidays
(00:21):
in general, because the time ofthe holidays can be difficult
for older adults for a plethoraof reasons.
Actually, it can be difficultfor a lot of people for a
plethora of reasons.
So we're going to talk aboutsome ideas on how to make well,
specifically Halloween, how tomake that more fun for older
(00:45):
adults, and also and hopefullyyou can use these for next year
and then also just how toincorporate some of these
concepts and ideas for theupcoming holidays, because
Halloween traditionally is, youknow, the beginning of the all
the crazy holidays that comealong after that.
(01:06):
Why they're not spread outthroughout the year, I don't
know.
But welcome to today's episode.
I'm Esther Kane and we're goingto be getting into this topic.
You know we often think ofHalloween, as you know, all
about costumed kids, you know,ringing doorbells, handing out
(01:26):
candy, halloween parties, all ofthat sugar rush, everything.
But we rarely stop to considerhow older adults experience the
holiday, especially ones thatmay have a chronic illness such
as dementia or a stroke, or havemobility issues or anything
(01:47):
like that.
Today we're going to explorehow to make that holiday just a
little bit more fun.
So one thing that I do want youto consider if you do have a
senior loved one, if you'recaring for a senior loved one
who has dementia or some otherform of cognitive illness is
that they are going toexperience all of this hoopla
(02:11):
much different than you and Iwould, and it's actually going
to come to them as basicallyjust sensory overload.
You know we often talk aboutseniors with dementia needing a
routine, needing a calmenvironment.
Well, halloween is pretty muchanything but that, unless, of
(02:31):
course, you just don't get kidsto your door.
So lots of kids with costumesyou know that can be
disorienting Maybe some flashinglights you know a lot of them
wear those collars or haveflashing wands.
And then you know some of theneighbors may be putting out
(02:51):
sound machines with spookysounds and maybe smoke and all
kinds of things, and all of thatcan be really disorienting for
someone with dementia orAlzheimer's or any form of
cognitive decline, really.
So here are 10 tips on howfamily members can help someone
with dementia navigate theseevents.
(03:15):
You want to limit sensoryoverload.
As I said, you wanna avoidenvironments that have excessive
noise, flashing lights and allof that.
You want to keep things asfamiliar as possible.
So when you decorate, make itminimal.
Maybe just a pumpkin outsidethe front door, anything like
that, nothing threateningNothing, no spooky ghosts or
(03:38):
skeletons or anything like thatthat can spook them.
You want to plan quietactivities.
If you can choose, calmingactivities you know, like
watching a movie or baking.
You know cookies, you knowpumpkin cookies or anything like
that.
Use simple costumes.
(03:59):
If you are going to dress up,make it it simple.
Make it something that doesn'tinvolve a lot of belts and
buckles and wigs and all kindsof things, just something very
easy.
And if it's familiar, evenbetter.
You know you can use theirclothes.
Dress them up as a you knowwell, I don't know what clothes
(04:22):
they have, maybe a plaid shirtand jeans.
You know they could be alumberjack kind of thing.
You want to prepare for visitors.
If you do have a lot oftrick-or-treaters coming to your
home, I would recommend thatyou be outside.
Just stay outside and hand outthe candy there.
In fact, you can even inviteseveral neighbors over and all
(04:45):
of you could be as a group.
That's what I used to do in myold neighborhood.
We would all go to one person'shome Luckily she was just next
door and we would just be in thedriveway and we would be
handing out candy from there.
It was easy, it was fun andit's not as you.
You know the constant doorbellringing, knocking,
trick-or-treat all of that sothat your loved one could be
(05:09):
inside.
If they, of course, they cancome outside, but if it becomes
too overwhelming for them, thenyou know you can bring them back
inside.
You know, involve them inpreparations, let them help with
some of the simple tasks ofdecorating, arranging treats,
all of that, you know.
Let them know.
(05:29):
From a week before you know, sayHalloween is coming, we're
going to do this, halloween iscoming, we're going to do this
and hopefully they will be ableto participate.
But don't be upset ordisappointed if they cannot just
have a plan b of what to do.
If you know they become angryor agitated or they just simply
(05:50):
can't handle all of this hoopla,that's happening.
Have a plan b as to what to doif that does occur.
Um, you want to try as hard aspossible to stick to a routine.
I talk often about withdementia patients, with anyone
that has dementia, is to stickto a routine.
It's one of the easiest ways tokeep someone calm and you know,
(06:15):
as they move through thisreally, really terrible disease,
and it makes life easier forthe caregiver as well.
Now, what if dementia isn't theissue?
What if cognitive decline isnot the issue?
But what if mobility is theproblem?
Alright, so here are some ideason how to make the holidays
(06:36):
Halloween, any holiday easier ifyour loved one, senior loved
one, has mobility issues.
One, you always want to makesure you have clear walkways.
You know you don't, I mean it's.
I know it's a lot of fun to putup all kinds of decorations and
I know some people still do thebrown paper bags with the
(06:57):
candle inside.
I would avoid that.
I would avoid that entirely,because all you need is to bump
into one of those things and youset off a fire.
It doesn't make sense.
Use LED lights if you want todo the paper bag thing.
Just make it as safe and anypathways clear as possible.
(07:18):
Make sure that there's enoughlighting so that everyone can
see where they're going andwhat's in front of them if
they're using a wheelchair or awalker or a cane.
And if possible, of course, youwant to try to avoid steps.
I have a front porch that hasthree steps that go into it to
(07:39):
get up there.
So if I were to go out therefor Halloween with somebody with
mobility issues, I would put aseat either I mean, I would put
a seat at the top in on theporch itself so that when the
kids come they can come up thesteps to get the candy or it's a
(07:59):
great way you can greet peoplewhatever.
And another tip is that if youwant to keep the senior person
away from the kids, you know acertain distance.
Maybe they just recovered froma cold or pneumonia or something
like that.
You don't want them exposed tothe kids and you don't want the
kids exposed to them.
One idea of handing out candyis to have a long chute, a PVC
(08:25):
pipe that will go from them.
They can, you know, while yoursenior loved one is sitting,
they can pick up the candy andput it into the PVC pipe and it
goes chutes down to the kid'sbasket.
I love that idea.
Some of my neighbors do that.
They put it on the railing ofthe steps, which I is hilarious
(08:46):
anyway.
Um, you always want to make surethat you have the right
footwear to wear outdoors,non-slip footwears.
You don't want anything thatdoesn't have a back, of course,
unless they're in a wheelchair,then it certainly may not, may
not matter in that case.
And then maybe it's too coldoutside, maybe it's raining,
(09:13):
maybe the weather isn't, youknow, amenable for somebody to
be out there who may haverecovered or has a frail
immunity system.
Then you want to considerHalloween activities that are
indoors, maybe a spooky movie,if they can tolerate that, or
maybe have a Halloween party ofsome kind, and you know, or
thanks, obviously Thanksgivingparty, christmas party, any
(09:35):
holiday party, and if you'regoing to do both, you can
certainly do both.
You can certainly, you know, doall the the kids in the front
and then have the indoor plan bparty inside.
You always want to make surethat anything that you hand out
of course these days you can'thand out homemade things anymore
(09:55):
you want to make sure thateverything is wrapped and safe
and that someone isn't, you know, opening up the candy and then
handing that out.
I remember an elderly womanthat I was helping to take care
of when I was an occupationaltherapist and she just got it in
her head that she had to unwrapthe candy and then hand the
(10:19):
children the chocolate bar, andwe had to stop that and get her
something else to just hand outthe candy bar.
I don't know why she did that,but who knows why?
We don't understand why.
Anyway, so those are some ideas.
Basically, the concept is tomake it safe, to include them in
(10:43):
the activities as much aspossible and to alter the
activities so that they canaccommodate them and to have a
plan B in case they are unableto participate.
You know, it doesn't matter ifthey were able to do it last
year, this year can be very,very different.
As we age, especially after 70,you really start changing.
(11:06):
You don't realize how much youchange or you know everything
physically your gait changes,your vision changes, your
cognitive reasoning changes.
It's really fascinatingsometimes to see someone at 68,
69, 70, and then 71, 72, 73, andso on, and the changes that
(11:28):
occur does sometimes happen,happen quite rapidly.
If you're wanting to get intosome costume designs and if I do
, got somebody that is using amobility device so here's some
ideas that you can maybe use.
You can.
If the person is in awheelchair, you can turn that
into a throne and make theperson king or queen on their
(11:52):
throne.
If you the person is using awalker, you can decorate that
Walker like a pirate ship, youknow, adding a pirate hat on the
person and accessories.
But you can make the Walker apirate ship, just make sure that
it's not something that theycan trip over and that they can
still see the ground as they'reusing the walker.
(12:14):
Maybe even with a walker, arelating walker, or even a cane.
You can dress it up as like agarden fairy kind of thing and
then the person itself couldwear, you know, an old prom
dress which are fun to get atthrift stores, and you can then
have the costume that way, notthat the cane is a wand, but
(12:37):
that it's part of the costume.
You can also decorate awheelchair to look like a train
engine.
Superhero cape is wonderful forwheelchairs or anyone that's
walking with a walker or cane,as long as it's not so long that
they can trip over and easyenough to you know, handle when
(12:59):
they're sitting.
You can wrap a walker in brownpaper fabric or brown paper to
make it look like a tree trunk,add some fake leaves, hang some
plastic bats off of it.
You can use a large pictureframe.
I'm reading some of these.
You can use a large pictureframe in front of the walker or
(13:23):
the wheelchair in front of thewalker or the wheelchair, making
it look like the person isgetting a selfie or is in a
portrait or maybe inside atelevision set.
I mean, those are all somewonderful ideas and I think if
you go on Pinterest you couldprobably see even more wonderful
ideas on how to decoratewheelchairs, canes and walkers
(13:44):
for any type of holiday.
It doesn't necessarily have tobe Halloween.
You know, it would be fun to dopilgrim kind of things for
Thanksgiving Santa Claus, elfthings you know for Christmas,
that kind of thing.
I don't know if you can do adreidel for Hanukkah, but it
would be kind of fun.
(14:05):
So traditionally, as I said,halloween is the start of the
crazy holiday season.
Thanksgiving is going to beless than a month away, then
Christmas, hanukkah sometimesHanukkah then Christmas, new
Year, right after that, and thenall these big gatherings and
all these disruptions in yourregular schedule can be very
(14:27):
difficult for some older adults.
So make sure to make the timeand the space to decompress, not
only for yourself but for them,and to incorporate as much of
the regular routine as possible,because that is so very, very
important.
You don't even have to havedementia or Alzheimer's.
You know, my mom-in-law livedto 102, and she was very good
(14:52):
about sticking to her schedule.
You know, 8 o'clock everymorning she had breakfast.
At 12 noon every day she hadlunch and at 6 pm she had dinner
.
You know, at 3 pm she took anap.
You know, at 11 pm she haddinner.
You know, at 3 pm she took anap.
You know, at 11 am she watchedsome news or, you know, read
(15:14):
something.
I mean, she was very good aboutsticking to her schedule and,
hey, she lived to 102.
So I think there's something tothat.
So we also want to.
I also want you to be aware ofthe emotional factors that
holidays can bring up, you know,especially if you've lost
(15:35):
someone.
Recently I remember my firstset of holidays after my husband
passed away.
You know he died at thebeginning of February.
So Valentine's Day was awful.
To this day it's still adifficult holiday for me.
Any of the holidays after thatare always so very difficult,
(15:58):
because how can you not think ofthat person that you lost.
How can you not think back onall the things that you used to
do?
You know, major dinners, havingall the family members all
those memories are constantlycoming up during the holidays.
So acknowledge that, don'tignore it.
(16:19):
Acknowledge it, talk about it.
You know, spend some time withyour senior person, your senior
loved one, reaching out,listening to them and
acknowledging their feelings ofsadness, but at the same time
also redirecting to what'shappening today, enjoying the
(16:39):
moment of today.
So I hope that these tips helpyou through the holidays.
I hope that it will bring, giveyou some ideas on how you can
incorporate older adults intoyour holiday plans and, of
course, I look forward to seeingyou next time.
(17:01):
Don't forget to subscribe, youknow.
Give us your comments, let usknow what you think of the
podcast, the information.
Give us your ideas.
I'm always so very happy to getmore and more ideas from our
listeners and I will see younext time.
Take care.
Hey everyone, welcome back to another podcast, the
Aging in Place Directory.
Today.
I know it's the day afterHalloween that this podcast is
coming out, but I wanted to talkabout some tips of Halloween so
hopefully you can use it fornext year.
But also I'm going to betalking about just the holidays
(00:21):
in general, because the time ofthe holidays can be difficult
for older adults for a plethoraof reasons.
Actually, it can be difficultfor a lot of people for a
plethora of reasons.
So we're going to talk aboutsome ideas on how to make well,
specifically Halloween, how tomake that more fun for older
(00:45):
adults, and also and hopefullyyou can use these for next year
and then also just how toincorporate some of these
concepts and ideas for theupcoming holidays, because
Halloween traditionally is, youknow, the beginning of the all
the crazy holidays that comealong after that.
(01:06):
Why they're not spread outthroughout the year, I don't
know.
But welcome to today's episode.
I'm Esther Kane and we're goingto be getting into this topic.
You know we often think ofHalloween, as you know, all
about costumed kids, you know,ringing doorbells, handing out
(01:26):
candy, halloween parties, all ofthat sugar rush, everything.
But we rarely stop to considerhow older adults experience the
holiday, especially ones thatmay have a chronic illness such
as dementia or a stroke, or havemobility issues or anything
(01:47):
like that.
Today we're going to explorehow to make that holiday just a
little bit more fun.
So one thing that I do want youto consider if you do have a
senior loved one, if you'recaring for a senior loved one
who has dementia or some otherform of cognitive illness is
that they are going toexperience all of this hoopla
(02:11):
much different than you and Iwould, and it's actually going
to come to them as basicallyjust sensory overload.
You know we often talk aboutseniors with dementia needing a
routine, needing a calmenvironment.
Well, halloween is pretty muchanything but that, unless, of
(02:31):
course, you just don't get kidsto your door.
So lots of kids with costumesyou know that can be
disorienting Maybe some flashinglights you know a lot of them
wear those collars or haveflashing wands.
And then you know some of theneighbors may be putting out
(02:51):
sound machines with spookysounds and maybe smoke and all
kinds of things, and all of thatcan be really disorienting for
someone with dementia orAlzheimer's or any form of
cognitive decline, really.
So here are 10 tips on howfamily members can help someone
with dementia navigate theseevents.
(03:15):
You want to limit sensoryoverload.
As I said, you wanna avoidenvironments that have excessive
noise, flashing lights and allof that.
You want to keep things asfamiliar as possible.
So when you decorate, make itminimal.
Maybe just a pumpkin outsidethe front door, anything like
that, nothing threateningNothing, no spooky ghosts or
(03:38):
skeletons or anything like thatthat can spook them.
You want to plan quietactivities.
If you can choose, calmingactivities you know, like
watching a movie or baking.
You know cookies, you knowpumpkin cookies or anything like
that.
Use simple costumes.
(03:59):
If you are going to dress up,make it it simple.
Make it something that doesn'tinvolve a lot of belts and
buckles and wigs and all kindsof things, just something very
easy.
And if it's familiar, evenbetter.
You know you can use theirclothes.
Dress them up as a you knowwell, I don't know what clothes
(04:22):
they have, maybe a plaid shirtand jeans.
You know they could be alumberjack kind of thing.
You want to prepare for visitors.
If you do have a lot oftrick-or-treaters coming to your
home, I would recommend thatyou be outside.
Just stay outside and hand outthe candy there.
In fact, you can even inviteseveral neighbors over and all
(04:45):
of you could be as a group.
That's what I used to do in myold neighborhood.
We would all go to one person'shome Luckily she was just next
door and we would just be in thedriveway and we would be
handing out candy from there.
It was easy, it was fun andit's not as you.
You know the constant doorbellringing, knocking,
trick-or-treat all of that sothat your loved one could be
(05:09):
inside.
If they, of course, they cancome outside, but if it becomes
too overwhelming for them, thenyou know you can bring them back
inside.
You know, involve them inpreparations, let them help with
some of the simple tasks ofdecorating, arranging treats,
all of that, you know.
Let them know.
(05:29):
From a week before you know, sayHalloween is coming, we're
going to do this, halloween iscoming, we're going to do this
and hopefully they will be ableto participate.
But don't be upset ordisappointed if they cannot just
have a plan b of what to do.
If you know they become angryor agitated or they just simply
(05:50):
can't handle all of this hoopla,that's happening.
Have a plan b as to what to doif that does occur.
Um, you want to try as hard aspossible to stick to a routine.
I talk often about withdementia patients, with anyone
that has dementia, is to stickto a routine.
It's one of the easiest ways tokeep someone calm and you know,
(06:15):
as they move through thisreally, really terrible disease,
and it makes life easier forthe caregiver as well.
Now, what if dementia isn't theissue?
What if cognitive decline isnot the issue?
But what if mobility is theproblem?
Alright, so here are some ideason how to make the holidays
(06:36):
Halloween, any holiday easier ifyour loved one, senior loved
one, has mobility issues.
One, you always want to makesure you have clear walkways.
You know you don't, I mean it's.
I know it's a lot of fun to putup all kinds of decorations and
I know some people still do thebrown paper bags with the
(06:57):
candle inside.
I would avoid that.
I would avoid that entirely,because all you need is to bump
into one of those things and youset off a fire.
It doesn't make sense.
Use LED lights if you want todo the paper bag thing.
Just make it as safe and anypathways clear as possible.
(07:18):
Make sure that there's enoughlighting so that everyone can
see where they're going andwhat's in front of them if
they're using a wheelchair or awalker or a cane.
And if possible, of course, youwant to try to avoid steps.
I have a front porch that hasthree steps that go into it to
(07:39):
get up there.
So if I were to go out therefor Halloween with somebody with
mobility issues, I would put aseat either I mean, I would put
a seat at the top in on theporch itself so that when the
kids come they can come up thesteps to get the candy or it's a
(07:59):
great way you can greet peoplewhatever.
And another tip is that if youwant to keep the senior person
away from the kids, you know acertain distance.
Maybe they just recovered froma cold or pneumonia or something
like that.
You don't want them exposed tothe kids and you don't want the
kids exposed to them.
One idea of handing out candyis to have a long chute, a PVC
(08:25):
pipe that will go from them.
They can, you know, while yoursenior loved one is sitting,
they can pick up the candy andput it into the PVC pipe and it
goes chutes down to the kid'sbasket.
I love that idea.
Some of my neighbors do that.
They put it on the railing ofthe steps, which I is hilarious
(08:46):
anyway.
Um, you always want to make surethat you have the right
footwear to wear outdoors,non-slip footwears.
You don't want anything thatdoesn't have a back, of course,
unless they're in a wheelchair,then it certainly may not, may
not matter in that case.
And then maybe it's too coldoutside, maybe it's raining,
(09:13):
maybe the weather isn't, youknow, amenable for somebody to
be out there who may haverecovered or has a frail
immunity system.
Then you want to considerHalloween activities that are
indoors, maybe a spooky movie,if they can tolerate that, or
maybe have a Halloween party ofsome kind, and you know, or
thanks, obviously Thanksgivingparty, christmas party, any
(09:35):
holiday party, and if you'regoing to do both, you can
certainly do both.
You can certainly, you know, doall the the kids in the front
and then have the indoor plan bparty inside.
You always want to make surethat anything that you hand out
of course these days you can'thand out homemade things anymore
(09:55):
you want to make sure thateverything is wrapped and safe
and that someone isn't, you know, opening up the candy and then
handing that out.
I remember an elderly womanthat I was helping to take care
of when I was an occupationaltherapist and she just got it in
her head that she had to unwrapthe candy and then hand the
(10:19):
children the chocolate bar, andwe had to stop that and get her
something else to just hand outthe candy bar.
I don't know why she did that,but who knows why?
We don't understand why.
Anyway, so those are some ideas.
Basically, the concept is tomake it safe, to include them in
(10:43):
the activities as much aspossible and to alter the
activities so that they canaccommodate them and to have a
plan B in case they are unableto participate.
You know, it doesn't matter ifthey were able to do it last
year, this year can be very,very different.
As we age, especially after 70,you really start changing.
(11:06):
You don't realize how much youchange or you know everything
physically your gait changes,your vision changes, your
cognitive reasoning changes.
It's really fascinatingsometimes to see someone at 68,
69, 70, and then 71, 72, 73, andso on, and the changes that
(11:28):
occur does sometimes happen,happen quite rapidly.
If you're wanting to get intosome costume designs and if I do
, got somebody that is using amobility device so here's some
ideas that you can maybe use.
You can.
If the person is in awheelchair, you can turn that
into a throne and make theperson king or queen on their
(11:52):
throne.
If you the person is using awalker, you can decorate that
Walker like a pirate ship, youknow, adding a pirate hat on the
person and accessories.
But you can make the Walker apirate ship, just make sure that
it's not something that theycan trip over and that they can
still see the ground as they'reusing the walker.
(12:14):
Maybe even with a walker, arelating walker, or even a cane.
You can dress it up as like agarden fairy kind of thing and
then the person itself couldwear, you know, an old prom
dress which are fun to get atthrift stores, and you can then
have the costume that way, notthat the cane is a wand, but
(12:37):
that it's part of the costume.
You can also decorate awheelchair to look like a train
engine.
Superhero cape is wonderful forwheelchairs or anyone that's
walking with a walker or cane,as long as it's not so long that
they can trip over and easyenough to you know, handle when
(12:59):
they're sitting.
You can wrap a walker in brownpaper fabric or brown paper to
make it look like a tree trunk,add some fake leaves, hang some
plastic bats off of it.
You can use a large pictureframe.
I'm reading some of these.
You can use a large pictureframe in front of the walker or
(13:23):
the wheelchair in front of thewalker or the wheelchair, making
it look like the person isgetting a selfie or is in a
portrait or maybe inside atelevision set.
I mean, those are all somewonderful ideas and I think if
you go on Pinterest you couldprobably see even more wonderful
ideas on how to decoratewheelchairs, canes and walkers
(13:44):
for any type of holiday.
It doesn't necessarily have tobe Halloween.
You know, it would be fun to dopilgrim kind of things for
Thanksgiving Santa Claus, elfthings you know for Christmas,
that kind of thing.
I don't know if you can do adreidel for Hanukkah, but it
would be kind of fun.
(14:05):
So traditionally, as I said,halloween is the start of the
crazy holiday season.
Thanksgiving is going to beless than a month away, then
Christmas, hanukkah sometimesHanukkah then Christmas, new
Year, right after that, and thenall these big gatherings and
all these disruptions in yourregular schedule can be very
(14:27):
difficult for some older adults.
So make sure to make the timeand the space to decompress, not
only for yourself but for them,and to incorporate as much of
the regular routine as possible,because that is so very, very
important.
You don't even have to havedementia or Alzheimer's.
You know, my mom-in-law livedto 102, and she was very good
(14:52):
about sticking to her schedule.
You know, 8 o'clock everymorning she had breakfast.
At 12 noon every day she hadlunch and at 6 pm she had dinner
.
You know, at 3 pm she took anap.
You know, at 11 pm she haddinner.
You know, at 3 pm she took anap.
You know, at 11 am she watchedsome news or, you know, read
(15:14):
something.
I mean, she was very good aboutsticking to her schedule and,
hey, she lived to 102.
So I think there's something tothat.
So we also want to.
I also want you to be aware ofthe emotional factors that
holidays can bring up, you know,especially if you've lost
(15:35):
someone.
Recently I remember my firstset of holidays after my husband
passed away.
You know he died at thebeginning of February.
So Valentine's Day was awful.
To this day it's still adifficult holiday for me.
Any of the holidays after thatare always so very difficult,
(15:58):
because how can you not think ofthat person that you lost.
How can you not think back onall the things that you used to
do?
You know, major dinners, havingall the family members all
those memories are constantlycoming up during the holidays.
So acknowledge that, don'tignore it.
(16:19):
Acknowledge it, talk about it.
You know, spend some time withyour senior person, your senior
loved one, reaching out,listening to them and
acknowledging their feelings ofsadness, but at the same time
also redirecting to what'shappening today, enjoying the
(16:39):
moment of today.
So I hope that these tips helpyou through the holidays.
I hope that it will bring, giveyou some ideas on how you can
incorporate older adults intoyour holiday plans and, of
course, I look forward to seeingyou next time.
(17:01):
Don't forget to subscribe, youknow.
Give us your comments, let usknow what you think of the
podcast, the information.
Give us your ideas.
I'm always so very happy to getmore and more ideas from our
listeners and I will see younext time.
Take care.
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