MuddyPuddles

I received an email from one of my awesome neices, Lorisa, a couple of days ago.  It relates to an experience she had with my mom, her grandmother.  Immediately after reading it I replied to ask her if I could post it on my blog.  It is so informative and well written that I wanted to share it with you.  Thankfully she consented so I've posted it below.  I believe this post will enhance your life and to some degree will alter your life stategy.  By the way, Lorisa is a speech therapist who works with people who have lost their ability to speak properly due to tragedy or trauma of some kind (I think).  Enjoy. 

"Christmas of 2007 I heard Grandma say something that has stuck with me.  We were talking about soup, or something completely, benign when she said something to the effect of “It’s my job to take care of myself- for the sake of my family”.  She was referring to her health- her diet, exercise- physical things.  I thought that was a profoundly loving thing to say.

I learned something today that has made me all the more grateful for her attitude.  I have worked with several elderly people that have lost their memory, or their personality, their ability to communicate.  To me, these losses are often more painful than physical losses, and sometimes even death.  Today I learned more about what we call brain plasticity - think brain and plastic (moldable, stretchable, etc.).  It refers to our ability to learn, retain, and recall new information, new skills, etc.  When we are young, our brains have a high plasticity, and becomes slowly less “plastic” as we age.  This is why, for example, we can learn a foreign language much easier at 12 years old vs. 30 years old. 

The good news is that this process is not completely out of our control.  We can delay, slow-down, lessen the effect of this phenomenon.  We have the power to change our brain plasticity – it is much more malleable than we think.  How do we do this?  Like working out the physical body, we have to push our brains beyond what they are used to.  If we do what we always do, and what we have already mastered, we won’t get anywhere.  We have to constantly learn- we actually have to do things that are difficult for us (not boring and impossible, but difficult and interesting).  Grandma taking an Auto-cad (or whatever it is!) class, for example, is pushing her brain to do something it has never done before. (Note from Dennis:  Mom ("Grandma") is 78 years young.  Auto-cad is the name given to the Computer aided drafting  software that professional architects use in their work.  Though it is complex and complicated, much of what she knows has been self-taught over the past two years.  Presently she is taking a 13 week Auto-Cad class to advance her knowledge further.  To date, she has designed and produced several houseplans using Auto-Cad for her own use.  Now, back to Lorisa's post.) 

The point is not that she will learn Auto-Cad (which is a nice additive).  The point is that the stimulation to her brain is beneficial in a million other ways.  They have discovered that “working out our brains” stimulates chemicals in our brain which contribute to our energy levels, our “spark”, our happiness, our uniqueness, our vitality.  Think of kids and that spark they constantly have.  We all want to live long healthy lives, but I want to reach old age with vitality and joy. 

Remember the second greatest commandment:  Love your neighbor as yourself.  At the risk of sounding new-agey, I believe we can only love to the extent that we know how to take good care of ourselves.  If someone does not know how to love themselves (which includes all facets:  physically, emotionally, spiritually), they certainly won’t “love well”.  So, Grandma, thank you for loving God first, and then loving us as yourself.  You really do love us well. 

To the rest of you:  do something new!!!  Try learning something new – even if it’s intimidating.  We want you to live long and be full of life every moment you are here. 

Love,
Lorisa Marie"

Thank you Lorisa for this excellent post.  Personally, it has motivated me to take up multi-tasking.  It's not easy for me.  It's not easyfar mew, buth I tink im getin thy hang of it.  inlfact I've wrten the lalast three suntinses wile quatro studying agua spanisch si.  I can feel thee gracias plastik en mi brane growinge now.  frijoles. chirp beep chomp gulp.  Hasta la vista, baby. 

(By the way, as you can imagine, I'm very proud of my awesome mom who is a great role model for all of her children and grandchildren and great grandchildren.  I love you mom!!!) 

Book Writing Progress report:  I feel like I’m gaining ground but I might be getting further behind???  As you know, I have been doing a lot of research on my family, trying to get the facts straight, contacting relatives and asking them to contact others, pumping them for information, researching on the internet, researching census data, marriage and death records, etc. etc.  New information is coming in daily.  I’ve rewritten a few chapters several times as I get new information that modifies and/or expands the old information. 

Often times new information raises additional questions.  If he was born in 1902, how come he is listed in the 1900 census?  If the family moved from Missouri to Belton Texas to Lubbock Texas, how is it that my dad and at least one of his older brothers was born near Winters Texas, which is a long way from those other places?  It’s kind of like solving mysteries and putting puzzle pieces together.  You may dig and dig and then all of a sudden a piece fits and it brings satisfaction.    

I have also found that the more I dig, the more I figure out new ways to dig.  For example, quite by accident I figured out that I can often solve puzzles about my family by researching the maiden names of some of my great grandmothers (when researching the names of my great grandfathers didn’t yield much).  I find that someone has researched that family name and has left new information (new to me) about some of my ancestors because of our family lines crossing (or joining).  I’ve also become more acutely aware of the fact that my bloodline is really a combination of hundreds of bloodlines.  I had never really thought about how I’m related to the Hodges and the Uptons and the Wells.  I’m also related to the Sanders, Crims, Emmerts, Wrights, Smiths, Hannahs, Boyds, Lairds, Livingstons, Stewarts, Kelborns and even to Bertha De Blois.  In fact, you’ll be happy to know that I’m even related to you!!!  How ya doin’ cuz?

It’s been a great blessing to dig back into my past.  It’s probably going to be hard to know exactly when to cut it off and say, “that’s enough”.  I know that when my book comes out that more information will come pouring in---possibly because of the book.  So, I guess I’ll have to have a revised and extended version a little further down the line.  In the mean time, does anybody know the exact cause of death for my great uncle Laxative Bromo Quinine Crim?  I think he had a herniated disc that went awry---or was that Aunt Bertha?  No, she got cooked in the squat!  Later!  Dennis

Does the name “Bertha De Blois” ring a bell with any of you.  I’ve been doing some genealogical research on my family and according to what I’ve been able to come up with, Bertha is my great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great (25 times) grandmother on my mother’s side.  I’d call that pretty great.  She was born in 990 a.d. in Blois, Loir-et-Cher, Orleanis Centre, France .  (Still doesn’t ring a bell?).  Until I double checked, I was thinking that she was born in 909 a.d. and I was planning on having a 1100^th birthday celebration next year.  I had already assigned my Father-in-law the task of getting the candles together.  Now, I guess we’ll have to wait another 82 years before we can do that.  Remind me in 81 years so I can get the party planned.  In the mean time, if you see any De Bloises running around, give them the good news that I might be one of them great cousins they’ve been wishing they had.  As you probably know, we are a close knit bunch.  Thanks, Dennis