Image courtesy fellow Blogger, AfricanAussie.
A BLISSFUL bayside retirement reflects in the glorious green foliage of the giant staghorns that have grown in a certain Victoria Point greenhouse.
The plants represent many happy years during which a couple in their senior years could relax in a comfortable home near their family and favourite fishing spots in Moreton Bay.
A For Sale notice offering the plants said "cheap" but they have been treasures for the 77-year-old woman who has nurtured them.
"My husband bought them from the roadside when we moved here 22 or 23 years ago," she says. "They were only tiny then, but now they are beautiful big ones. They're the largest I have ever seen."
FINDING a new home for beloved elkhorns and staghorns is just one item on her busy agenda this week.
At the weekend she will move from her house and into a Cleveland unit, which is too small for the giant epyphytes.
She will tell her husband about the move but he will not understand. That is the sadness that surrounds the tragedy of dementia.
"My husband started to suffer from dementia about 10 years ago and has had a stroke," the woman says.
"I have settled him into a nursing home at Wellington Point. When I visit him, I have to travel 16 kilometres each way from here.
"I have no alternative but to move closer, and this house is too big for me alone."
The bay fishing was one of the main reasons the couple retired to Victoria Point rather than the Brisbane suburbs but that ended for them soon after the onset of the disease.
"He came to me one day and said he couldn't go out in the boat anymore because he couldn't remember how to come back in," the woman says.
DESPITE all the suffering, she remains stoic and is thankful for all the support from her daughter, son-in-law and two grandsons, who she says have been marvellous during the stress of the past few years.
She knows they will all rally around to help with the heavy work tomorrow.
The woman says her family is grateful to know her husband has the security of a home where the staff care about their patients.
She also thanks the Wynnum and Cleveland respite centres for their support.
Alzheimer's Australia says an estimated 269,000 Australians have dementia.
"WITHOUT a significant medical breakthrough, that is expected to soar to about 981,000 by 2050," the organisation says.
"Each week, there are 1500 new cases of dementia in Australia. That is expected to grow to 7400 new diagnoses each week by 2050."
Thanks for joining me to meet the people in the marvellous community of classified advertising; this column has appeared in The Redland Times.
The plants represent many happy years during which a couple in their senior years could relax in a comfortable home near their family and favourite fishing spots in Moreton Bay.
A For Sale notice offering the plants said "cheap" but they have been treasures for the 77-year-old woman who has nurtured them.
"My husband bought them from the roadside when we moved here 22 or 23 years ago," she says. "They were only tiny then, but now they are beautiful big ones. They're the largest I have ever seen."
FINDING a new home for beloved elkhorns and staghorns is just one item on her busy agenda this week.
At the weekend she will move from her house and into a Cleveland unit, which is too small for the giant epyphytes.
She will tell her husband about the move but he will not understand. That is the sadness that surrounds the tragedy of dementia.
"My husband started to suffer from dementia about 10 years ago and has had a stroke," the woman says.
"I have settled him into a nursing home at Wellington Point. When I visit him, I have to travel 16 kilometres each way from here.
"I have no alternative but to move closer, and this house is too big for me alone."
The bay fishing was one of the main reasons the couple retired to Victoria Point rather than the Brisbane suburbs but that ended for them soon after the onset of the disease.
"He came to me one day and said he couldn't go out in the boat anymore because he couldn't remember how to come back in," the woman says.
DESPITE all the suffering, she remains stoic and is thankful for all the support from her daughter, son-in-law and two grandsons, who she says have been marvellous during the stress of the past few years.
She knows they will all rally around to help with the heavy work tomorrow.
The woman says her family is grateful to know her husband has the security of a home where the staff care about their patients.
She also thanks the Wynnum and Cleveland respite centres for their support.
Alzheimer's Australia says an estimated 269,000 Australians have dementia.
"WITHOUT a significant medical breakthrough, that is expected to soar to about 981,000 by 2050," the organisation says.
"Each week, there are 1500 new cases of dementia in Australia. That is expected to grow to 7400 new diagnoses each week by 2050."
Thanks for joining me to meet the people in the marvellous community of classified advertising; this column has appeared in The Redland Times.
No comments:
Post a Comment