Nadine Meredith: Nadine has been with us for a few years and has always been flexible and willing to take on new clients. In the past month she was caregiver to an elderly Italian man who spoke primarily Italian.

Keliomayra Saaverdra: Keliomayra is relatively new to us, originally hired as an office assistant helping us with PPE distribution, organization of office supplies and equipment, and even cleaning. 

No Thanks. By Alan Weiss

There are a lot of people I hear talking about “returning to normal.” The media are talking about businesses returning to “pre-pandemic levels.” Yet, there are obvious and profound changes that have occurred and have gained traction, such as remote meetings, take-out (high end) food, and career reevaluations.

My parents had a “system” of using envelopes to save for the rent, the car loan, and groceries (the envelopes were almost always empty). Our lives are not sacullated, not compartmentalized into self-sustaining containers. To exactly what “normal” are we trying to return?

Here’s the scoop, intelligence from the abyss we faced: We’ve learned some things that we ought to retain, such as entertainment at home is better than dirty, noisy theaters, and that we don’t need to assemble 400 people in a convention so that they can lie to each other about how well they’re doing. We’ve learned about some things that we ought to jettison permanently, such as polarization, which even the pandemic couldn’t overcome, and obsessive competition, which should give way to more collaboration (hoarding is simply stupid). And we’ve learned there’s a need to acquire some things many of us didn’t possess sufficiently, such as financial reserves, latitude of action, and support networks.

You want to return to normal? That’s a rallying cry for complacency. If this isn’t a time for reflection, prudent risk-taking, and innovation, I don’t know what is. If you can’t do this independently, get help. Because there will be another microbe, another calamity, another abyss. You can be prepared and on the high ground, or “back to normal” and in the quicksand.

The elderly man in the hospital bed was our client but our focus was on his daughter, a bright health care professional, trying her best to usher her father through the confusing maze of the U.S. health care system. He had been admitted for treatment of pneumonia, acquired during a rehab stay in a nearby nursing home…his third such episode in three weeks. The young doctor, having briefly examined him, pronounced him able to return to the nursing home. 

The daughter, sleep deprived, confused and frustrated looked to me for support.  “He wants to go home with care “I said. The doctor, reflexively replied: “He needs care he can only receive in a nursing home” He listed them… oxygen, frequent monitoring, possibly IV antibiotics, respiratory treatments, safety and prevention of re-infection.

The Four R's of Coping By Helen Hunter, ACSW, LSW

1. REORGANIZE Reorganize your life. What do you need to focus on at this time? By reorganizing your life, you can better structure your needs and the needs of others.

2. RETHINK Rethink your priorities. What is most important to you?

By taking a good look at what is

   most important in your life, you

   can focus and channel your

   energy in that area.

3. RELAX Find relaxation in exercise, hobbies, meditation. What is the best way that you can find peace? By finding a method of relaxation, you can recharge your energy so that you will be better able to face daily challenges.

4. RELEASE Let go! What can you let other people do? By taking a good look at what others can do, you can ask for and accept assistance. ■

WHY GOD CREATED DOGS Pets are a reminder to balance joy and grief. A fond farewell to the world’s greatest dog. By: Karl Rove

Just after 10 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 4, Little Bit Rove, the world’s greatest dog, passed from this life to the next. She apparently had an arrhythmia from birth and Bit’s loving heart gave out. She’d have been three in November.

My wife Karen and I had been without a dog since our border collie Nan died in August 2015. On Christmas 2019, Karen decided it was time. Her gift was a promise: I could pick out a dog from a nearby hunting preserve.

We are privileged to have received referrals from and be able to coordinate care with many Assisted Living facilities, rehab facilities, and Medicare Home Care and Hospice agencies. Our growth is in large part due to the trust the staff in these organizations have put in our caregivers. We are likewise impressed with them and we are committed to referring to them on a regular basis