An Update On Dad

Thank you all for your concerns and asking after my dad, Gerry. Again I say, these are questions of true love and interest in him and us as his family, and it shows what kind of man he truly was, consistently, through all the years of his life.

He's always been Dad to me. Yes, he worked for 3 decades at Boeing. He had many roles in his life, from his love of ushering at our church to the landscaping of a lakefront near our home in Maple Valley. And through all of those times I wasn't around him, he was always the Good, funny, kind, caring Gerry Lott that I knew at home.

So, lately here's what's up with dad.
He's been at a place in the South Bellevue area for about a year. He's in a wheelchair now, much easier to get around with him, and we'll swing by and take him out for a wheeling 'round the neighborhood he's in. He can't speak to us, and it makes me wonder if the dreams I have of him, healthy and dressed in a suit, where he DOES speak to me about how he is doing are his way of talking to me, or just a delusion of mine that accept and embrace. I miss our conversations a LOT, especially as I swim wildly through the somewhat calm waters of my first years of marriage.

He gets to watch a lot of the Golf Channel, which I'll go watch with him while I chat about whatever's going on in my life. If something strikes him a certain way, he'll look as though he's about to cry, but that's common among some with dementia. It never progresses to crying, but it's as close to laughter as many can get. I know that crying and laughter can coincide, especially if you watch my early stand-up videos. Eeeeesh.

The fact that he's now much closer to us is great. Still I don't see him as much as I feel I should. It's now just about honoring him. I don't know if he can understand us, what he feels, nor what he wants to say. All I know is that I have a lot to apply in my life about how to always comport one's self.

Also, a big Thank You to Rozi and Mike at Rozi's home. She is the caregiver who watches over 4 residents, and has such a compassion and empathy and love for those in her care, she is really an angel in our world. Those who dedicate their life to the care of others, for the sake of seeing they get the care they deserve, surely hold a special place in the Ben & Jerry's Hall Of Names, and should have ice creams named after them.

Thanks for checkin' in!

A Safe, Effective Treatment for Mental Issues?

Part of all this writing I do is to get some knowledge out about my dad's disorder, and some possible ways to counter-act it.

By the time I had found a few natural options that may have helped, my dad was rather advanced in his dementia. It's an UGLY disease. The changes it puts your loved one or friend through aren't pleasant. And the amount of drugs that they could be on is just as harrowing.

I have more than a slight distrust in Big Pharma, because of how the past 2 decades have seen a rise in ADD and ADHD. Also, computers, cell phones, more news coverage, "Cop Rock," caffeine on every corner, and energy drinks (what are we staying awake for?), are more prevalent than ever. Big Pharma capitalized on all of it by screaming into the ears of the slightly tired "YOU HAVE A PROBLEM, HERE'S A PILL." Money money money money.

So I search for natural cures that cannot be patented.

If you have, had, or are most likely somebody who other people think has...

• stress,
• bipolar disorder,
  (manic depression),
• ADHD and ADD,
• depression,
• alcoholism,
• aggression,
• Post Traumatic
  Stress Disorder (PTSD)
• Alzheimer's

Then PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE, look into LITHIUM OROTATE or LITHIUM ASPARTATE. It's a naturally occurring chemical that affects the chemical pathways of the brain's Frontal Lobes, where your personality and decision-making are held.

Lithium Carbonate is the one that is medically Rx'ed. This is natural, safe, and inexpensive.

Just worth a look, ya know? I'm going to see what it does for me.
For STRESS, I mean.