Alzheimer's: Losing my dad

Alzheimer's: Losing my dad ![]() Two months ago, my dad died. The experience of losing him was slow and gradual, because he had Alzheimer's Disease. It was also quick, because the difference between near-death and actual death turns out to be pretty sudden and profound. But above all, my dad's death felt magical to me, because loving my dad was always a magical experience, from the time I was tiny and he was creating birthday magic shows, Halloween haunted houses, treasure hunts to the town dump and movies starring us kids, until the very late stages of his life with this challenging disease when he was asking me deep and caring questions about my view of the world. His death felt magical because it ended with singing. My mom, sister, brother and I all held hands around his bedside and sang "Dona Nobes Pacem" ("Bring Us Peace") - a favorite round in my family - in his final hours. What follows is one song about my dad and mom, in honor of National Alzheimer's Disease Awareness Month, and two others to round out the story of my dad and my family's journey with Alzheimer's.
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A Unique Adoption Love SongThis month's song is written in the voice of newly adoptive mother Deb to her newborn son Teddy. It's a love song of grand proportions, because the story of Deb and Teddy is far from your typical adoption story (if there even is such a thing!) And it is one that I have gotten to see from an up-close vantage point for the past several years, as this story has meandered, halted and faltered at bit in places, and is now experiencing it own kind of "full bloom."
My book is very close to completion now! If you'd like to pre-order, please email [email protected] In 2015 I won a proposal-writing contest with my favorite publisher: Hay House In a few months, my book will be out! It includes a Foreword by the author of one of Penguin's best-selling book of all time (Douglas Stone, Difficult Conversations) and the early reviews are so exciting I just had to share a few: A Song Hidden within a SongThis is a song that you probably know, hidden stealthily inside a song that you've never heard before. And in both cases, they are songs about that unbridled, expansive feeling of being utterly transported (by LOVE!) Jim came to me to create a song for Nancy, with whom he was, plain to see, over the moon in love. Their connection was new, and he was positively jubilant! I have known him for a good while now, and I had never seen him like this! It was a wonderful thing to behold, I gotta tell ya! He was practically skipping. WANTING TO SAY WHAT YOU CAN'T SAY
Jim told me how his feelings for Nancy grew so fast, he could barely keep up with them. Early in the I think the world of Bob Faw! He is an inspiring motivational speaker, a vibrant author, a loving partner to the lovely Zsuzsi and, as of a few weeks ago, a loving HUSBAND to her as well. On January 6th, after many years of copacetic togetherness, Bob and Zsuzsi tied the knot in an intimate, tropical, romantic setting, to the tune of "Coming Home," the song Bob surprised her with in the very moment that they were becoming husband and wife!
TOPIC: Saying Goodbye and Thank You Allison has become nothing short of a tae kwon do master of creativity when it comes to thinking up inspired and meaningful projects for harnessing my songwriting powers!!! This is the fifth song project she has initiated (see others below), and each time, she comes up with really unusual and incredible requests that call me up to a higher level and create an intense and feeling-based bonding moment for the recipients. This time, it had to do with daughters, and horses, and good byes. Allison's daughter, and her two friends, have spent the past many years growing increasingly bonded to a horse farm here in our community. They thought they'd be there forever, being mentored by their two incredible teachers, Mary and Gin. But the winds changed, and the horse farm arrangement came to an end. All were so, so sad to say good bye. And Allison and her daughter came up with the idea of creating a good-bye message from all three girls, to the two teachers, designed to hit a deeper, truer note with their message of thanks. This rest of the story behind this month's song is SPOKEN rather than written! My son Ben and I created this video (another truly INSPIRED idea from Allison, actually!) to share with the recipients of this song last week before they actually heard the song for the first time, and....now...to share with YOU! OR Here's the song in MP3 format, and also set to some pictures of the girls below:
A Song for All Moms on Mother's DayDear Moms, everywhere, all across the planet, Old and young, tired and refreshed, brave and scared. We are your children. We are the people you labored to bring here, The ones who needed you desperately, at times, And the ones who needed to push out beyond you, at other times. This song is for all of you. Enjoy! Read on to learn the Story Behind the Song...
TOPIC: What Does it Mean to say YES on All Levels? Stepping Into the Flow ![]() This song makes me so happy! It's all about what it means to step into the sweeping, coincidence-filled energy that is all around us and available to us in the moment we say YES to the depths of our own journey. Inspired in large part by Nancy Sporborg, who commissioned the song, "The Gracewave" this summer, my family said YES, YES, YES!! to a trip all across this magnificent country of ours (that's me and my sons Ben and Sam at the Grand Canyon, with photo credits to my husband Jim.) To learn about Nancy--who was brave and brilliant enough to commission a song like this--and her journey, and her message, and her incredible book, "IT'S NOT ABOUT THE HIKE," to which this song is a companion piece, read on.... ![]()
TOPIC: Hitting a Whole New Groove After 20 Years of Marriage What Does It Mean to Really Soar as a Couple? ![]() My favorite thing about this song is that it grew out of a couple making it through a serious TIGHT SQUEEZE and coming out so much stronger on the other side--astonished with their own strength, more deeply connected, and laughing that great, fabulous laugh of relief and joy you feel when you somehow land, together, in the right place. Who do YOU become when the going gets tough? What does it mean, in those most challenging moments, to risk, to dare, to trust your gut, and, importantly, to truly move closer to the one beside you, rather than to pull away? This song explores what's on the other side, in life, when what you do together in the face of a tough challenge on the ground, is to LEARN TO FLY... ![]()
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