Author: Nancy Carlson

The beach hike, California After my stay and hike with Diane, I headed to Malibu where my girlfriends had rented a house to celebrate our 60th birthdays. Most of us have been friends since grade school. My friend, Sue, and …

HIKE THIRTY-SIX AND HIKE THIRTY-SEVEN Read More »

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Falling and rocking Barry is getting really unsteady on his feet since his doctors cut down on his medications. I can’t help but wonder if we now are seeing the true symptoms of frontotemporal dementia (FTD) that the medications may …

BARRY’S JOURNEY No. 25 Read More »

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Dinner with Barry I have been trying hard to get to Barry’s care center around 5:00 each day. His social worker said he could have one beer a day to make his life, well, more normal. So for about a …

BARRY’S JOURNEY No. 24 Read More »

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You look fat Every once in a while, I see a small part of the old Barry come out. One day late this summer, I took Barry down to the courtyard at his care center. He had not been talking …

OUR JOURNEY – BIG HIPS Read More »

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Rope swing hike On an early afternoon this summer, I took a simple hike near our first house in Bloomington. It’s a little trail right across Highway 169 on Anderson Lakes in Eden Prairie. The kids and I used to …

HIKE THIRTY-FOUR Read More »

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To drug or not to drug It is the end of summer and life for Barry is a lot different from what it was at the beginning of summer. On Memorial Day, Barry was on his second trip to the …

BARRY’S JOURNEY No. 23 Read More »

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Swallowing issues Quite a few times this summer when I went to visit Barry, I found him unable to swallow. The first time I found him with his lap and chair soaking wet. He could not talk because his mouth …

BARRY’S JOURNEY No. 22 Read More »

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Playing golf I started playing golf 10 years ago when our kids were older and we had the time, and because it was something Barry and I could do together. Barry really loved playing golf. When Barry bought clubs for …

OUR JOURNEY – GOLF Read More »

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Hiking with an old buddy After graduating from college and traveling in Europe for eight months, I came home ready to do art. My first full-time job was at Dayton’s, selling sporting goods until my supervisor did me a favor. …

HIKE THIRTY-TWO Read More »

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MY KIDS’ DAD My kids have a dad in a nursing home who is sometimes embarrassingly filthy when they come to visit. Sometimes he is wearing clothes that do not belong to him. Sometimes he says f*** you to them …

BARRY’S JOURNEY No. 21 Read More »

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