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LifeBio Memory Group Classes are Just Pure Fun November 15, 2024
LifeBio Memory Group Classes are just plain FUN November 15, 2024
3 Memory Care Programming Tips November 15, 2024
One Place for Families to Capture & Store Legacies November 15, 2024
Appreciating Family Stories
Many American families will gather back around the Thanksgiving table this year after last year’s cancelled or altered plans. (My family shivered around a bonfire last Thanksgiving for as long as we could stand it, and I, for one, am thrilled to be back at the table. --Laura). Perhaps we will eat and drink as much as we can fit in our bellies. The children will have too many dinner rolls and not enough vegetables. We will talk about football games, health issues, and the weather. Then at some point, there will be a lull in the conversation.
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Nostalgia for Emotional Wellness: How Remembering the Past Helps You Live in the Present
Between the falling leaves, the pumpkins out on stoops, and the smell of warm cider, autumn feels like a natural time for reminiscing. It is a time of year when it is easy to let your mind slip into the past and remember Halloween costumes from when you were little or the fragrance of your mother’s apple crumble in the oven. Reminiscing like this can feel a little sappy, a little foolish sometimes. We’re told to focus on the future; keep moving forward. But what if focusing on your past helped you move toward your future with greater resilience, energy, and mental wellbeing? What if remembering the past actually motivated you to live a fuller, better life in the here and now?
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Sowing Seeds
For as long as I can remember my parents have grown apple and pear trees. I grew up in Ohio, and the blooming pear trees each year showed that spring had sprung. When I was younger, I was trepid around the bees the blooms attracted. In the summer, the trees provided great shade for a young girl to sit under and read. By the fall, the fruit was ready to be picked and eaten. It was worth the time spent helping my father gather the pears and apples, as I knew it meant my mother would use some to make apple crisp.
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Happy National Dog Day!
Since its inception in 2004, National Dog Day has been celebrated annually on August 26th. It was founded by Colleen Paige, an animal welfare advocate and a dog trainer. The intent of such a day was to bring more awareness to the number of dogs that need rescued from public shelters, pure breed rescues, and other pet rescues each year. Now, thanks to social media posts and being adopted into New York legislation in 2013, National Dog Day has grown in recognition and popularity. It is a day to celebrate all kinds of dogs—whether family pets, working dogs, foster dogs, purebred, mixed breads, or mutts. Many people use the day to recognize the dogs that put their lives on the line each day to do things like protect their homes and families, serve with law enforcement, and work as guide and companion dogs helping people living with disabilities.
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True to Her Word
Before I was born and while I was young, Grandma Maggie and Grandpa John owned on a dairy farm in Wisconsin. Every morning around 4:00 AM, Grandpa John and a hired man would get up and milk the cows by hand. The milk would be put into 10-gallon milk jugs which were then loaded onto the back of a horse-drawn wagon.
While they had been out milking, Grandma Maggie would have prepared a large farm breakfast. Then their five children, including my mom, Agnes, would come down to have breakfast together. Before long as breakfast was finished, it was time for the kids to throw on their coats and grab their things for school. They would hop on the back of the milk wagon to get dropped off at school, as Grandpa went on to drop the milk at the local dairy.
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MyHello is changing lives!
Birds of a feather flock together... But what happens if isolation prevents flocking?
LifeBio designed MyHello to be a loneliness intervention. While it has been geared towards serving elders, it is not limited to any particular ages. The idea is that weekly telephone calls will help increase social connectedness and help cut down on feelings of isolation and depression, even more so during our nation’s current pandemic. There are different types of telephone calls available, depending on what a person finds most suitable to individual needs and preferences.
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What is Your Favorite Fourth of July Memory?
“Now my family has a cookout, and sometimes we go to a parade. Growing up though, about the time when my brother was two years old, my mother told him that all the fireworks were people celebrating his birthday because his birthday was on July 3rd. The funny outcome was he believed it until he was in first grade!” -Sandy L.
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Untold Stories
A Unique Story
You are special. You are a wonderful and unique individual. You are who you are because of the people, places, and events that have influenced your life. Your interpretation of those experiences creates your world view. While there are some remarkable historical events that we have shared, your part is unique to you. People want to know your story!
