It’s that time of year – when the weather can change in no-time-flat.
The most dramatic example of this is a good ‘ol fashioned “summer squall.” That’s when, seemingly out of nowhere, the sky turns dark, the wind picks up, and the rain suddenly pours down in buckets. Especially here in the south.
Trees bend in the face of these gusts. Leaves, sometimes whole branches, crash down and litter the streets. Gutters overflow. If you ask me, it’s actually a little scary.
And then, just like that, it’s sunny and quiet again.
I find these outbursts by Mother Nature pretty impressive. Perhaps because, for a few moments, I feel like adventurous stormchaser Laura Dern in Twister – except in my movie, I’m not trying to catch the storm! Nope, I’m usually headed in the other direction, just trying to beat it home!
But these instances also remind me of our fortitude as humans. Our ability to handle what comes our way. We can weather the squalls in our life. We can batten down the hatches and ride them out.
And then, we can re-emerge and feel the warmth of the sun on our skin, the coolness in the air, the gentleness of the breeze.
No severe storm can last forever. The Alzheimer’s journey can feel like a raging tempest at times. And in those moments when the complexities of life with dementia feel like they’re piling up, it can feel like we’re getting absolutely pummeled by the wind, hail, branches and lightning.
But if we hold onto our partners on the journey, we can outlast those storms together. And if we remind ourselves that things will calm down soon, we can find the extra bit of endurance that we probably need in that scary moment.
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