Up from the rabbithole...

Wine of the Week:
The Collection Shiraz 2009 - found this one at the Oak Barrel during their Christmas tasting do. It is both easily priced and a very easy drinking wine. From Margaret River in WA, the quality is not in question but it is young and not as full bodied as you would expect from a Hunter Valley Shiraz - hence it's easy drinking nature. At around $20 per bottle, it is great value.
http://vinedrops.com.au/the-collection 

Well friends, let me apologise for the long time between posts. It has been an inordinate amount of time since I last sat upon the mound to give my latest sermon but there has been a lot going on. 

I am sure that you have all heard of the saying "going down a rabbithole"; if not as part of a meeting that you have been a part of but as part of the story "Alice in Wonderland". In the story, Alice follows the White Rabbit down the rabbithole and begins an amazing adventure. For most of us, it isn't like that but rather you all of a sudden find yourself down a rabbithole without knowing when you are able to come up and see daylight. Well, that is what it is like for me.

Most of you may know that my Aunt was diagnosed with dementia late in 2008 after a spell of psychosis highlighted that she had been struggling for a while with a loss of memory and a heightened state of confusion. Since then, she has been in an old age hostel where she was able to get the care that she needed while still having the independence of her own room, her own space etc.

Since Christmas though, her condition started to decline and decline rather rapidly. To the point that she needed assistance to do the basic things she needed to do to take care of herself. That combined with a urinary tract infection and loss of appetite led to her being put into hospital for a couple of weeks; to get her physical health back on track but also to see if the dementia had also progressed - which it sadly had. As such, the decision was made that higher care was needed and now she needs to be transferred to a nursing home. 

Hence, a lot of time over the last few weeks has been spent between the hospital visits, consulting family, social workers, visiting nursing homes etc - in addition to the usual fare of work and home duties. Anyway, her physical health has now stablised and we have found a bed in a nursing home close by which marks an end of one stage and the beginning of another.

In a quiet moment recently, the old cliche' of the children becoming the parents came back to haunt me. While it is very true, the other truth behind it is that there is nothing that prepares you to take on that role. No booklet, no training video on You Tube - nothing! You pretty much have to feel your way through it - feel being the operative word. 

To live through the decline of your parents, guardians, grandparents etc is something that impacts the whole family and is a journey that is unique to each family. I have had friends who have lost grandparents and parents and while you can sympathise with their situation, you really don't know how challenging it is until you ride the rollercoaster yourself. 

And I tell my story not because I have any particular pearls of wisdom that I have discovered but rather it is an experience and you know the saying about shared experience? (Seriously, I know there is a saying about it but for the life of me I can't remember it...let me know if you do)

That and I never liked Alice in Wonderland anyway.