True Love: Past and Future

Cindy and I wanted this blog to inform and inspire others who may find themselves in a similar situation. I never considered that to be the telling of a love story, though a few readers commented they have that impression. I never thought of ourselves as fitting the dramatic or romantic mold of the lovers in The Titanic; we are more like Jim and Pam from The Office. Yet I concede our relationship fits many people’s definition of true love.

Sixteen years into Cindy’s care, I find less informative or inspiring aspects of that care to write about. Now I intend to deliberately share more of our “love story.” Occasional vignettes will share my experiences and feelings in the moment. I also will fill in some of our back story, how and why we arrived at our true love.

Sometimes we become attached to places like we do with people. The true love for both a place and a person involves caring, responsibility and loyalty. A shared sense of place strengthens the bond with a loved one. Some future posts will flesh out our sense of place for both our home town and wilderness trails.

We started living in the house where I was raised to take care of my Mom who had dementia. We stayed here because of Cindy’s choice, not mine. As a nurse Cindy could have found employment anywhere. As a trained GIS specialist and program researcher with four degrees I could have found more lucrative employment elsewhere. We stayed because of the humanity, beauty and culture embedded in the pastoral village of Norfolk, Connecticut. Her love for this place is true, as is mine. I hope some of my future posts convincingly reflects that love.

This is the last of my cornerstone content posts. To recap, they were about the five major themes of this blog: Journeying, Humanity, Brain Health, Care Partners and True Love. The next post will be in the New Year, following the plan I presented with the cornerstone content.

Please spread the word to anyone who might be interested in one of those categories. Encourage them to subscribe, as well as to share and like posts. Help me spread the content to those who will benefit.