Alzheimer’s patients need simplicity, safety, familiar places and faces, distinguishable sounds, and a few people at a time. Complexity is confusing. Threats, real and imagined, are unnerving. Strange places and strangers generate anxiety. Multiple conversations in a room sound like a cacophony of noise. And many people in the same place can be overwhelming.
So back to the old “Keep It Simple Stupid” applied to Christmas.
Linda and I are having a good Christmas season. Here is what we are doing to KISS Christmas in 2005:
Dress the tree. On the Sunday after thanksgiving I put up the tree and lights and got out all the boxes with Christmas decorations. Linda spent several hours putting ornaments on the tree and putting greenery and lights on the banister. I got the ficus tree and a Norfolk Pine ready for bows and put tiny lights on the Pine in the sunroom.
Keep decorations at a minimum. Some of the decorations of the past are staying in the boxes this year. The ones we most enjoy are up…but not too many to be distracting.
Little shopping. I have done some purchases on-line. Our daughter Lela, took Linda shopping to one store where she felt familiar with the environment. They bought some clothes that I can give to her. She doesn’t remember that they are for Christmas and kept putting them on to wear them until we got them wrapped. I took Linda shopping to stand alone stores that were not in Malls. This was to get small items like candles, scented pinecones, and decorations for me to make a stocking for our Julia, our youngest grandchild.
Music. Linda loves to have music playing on the CD. So frequently the house is filled with soft sounds of Christmas.
Family gifts. Mostly we have given contributions to charities in the names of our siblings. I have requested that our son Will, our daughter Lela, and our son-in-law Don give me the gift of “Do List Reduction.” They will come over to the house and work with me for a few hours on January 2nd as we check on the maintenance list I have of small plumbing repairs, installing blinds, fixing leaks, etc.
Family Celebration. On Friday the 23rd, we will go to Lela and Don’s and be joined by Will, Chris, and Trey. This will be our Christmas Eve, but a day early. We will have dinner (Honey Baked Ham is my contribution), play a simple board game that Linda can be comfortable playing, and spend the night before Christmas together. On Saturday, we will celebrate as though it is Christmas Day. Trey, at 2 ½ will rise early to play. We will have a nice brunch together and open gifts. Sometime during the morning we will talk with Bethany, Sean, Andrew (4 ½) and Julia (1 ½) in Dushanbe, Tajikistan. Thank God for phone connections and voice over internet.
Christmas Day. Linda and I will have a simple day. We will go to church for the 10 a.m. service. Then we will come home and I will prepare a special meal…honey baked ham (left from Friday night), three bean salad, stuffing, and a Caesar salad. Probably no planned dessert or bread…maybe a dish of ice cream later which is Linda’s favorite any time, all the time.
Lots of Togetherness Time. I am on vacation so we do everything together. Tonight Linda and I will go out to eat with my sister Emelie and her husband Wood. This simple foursome will be instead of any Christmas parties this year. After Christmas Linda and I will fly to Atlanta on the 28th for my niece’s wedding. Lots of family will mean lots of togetherness. I will monitor that continuously so it doesn’t get overwhelming for Linda. We will have a suite at the hotel so people can come visit us just two or three at a time.
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