Alzheimer group is valuable
I am the daughter and caregiver of an Alzheimer's-afflicted parent. My mom resides in a local nursing home where she is well cared for by skilled nurses and staff. This quiets my worries over her safety, and sometimes quiets my sorrow over her transformation into the lost world of Alzheimer's disease.
Through this difficult time with her, my faith is one of the saving graces. The other is the Alzheimer Caregiver Group that I attend at the Defiance County Senior Services building, 700 Jefferson Ave. in Defiance.
My first thought on support group attendance was not positive. My first attendance at a meeting told me otherwise. Here was a place where I and others who are caregivers could receive much needed help. Deb Lenhart and Pat Wagner are the well-trained and very helpful co-facilitators. They provide their guidance and ideas, and especially their support.
Everything discussed in our meeting stays in our meeting. Nothing is repeated outside of the room nor are the other members mentioned by name on the outside.
This has helped me so much, giving me the freedom to express my roller-coaster-ride feelings without fear of judgment. I am able to express my sorrow, frustration, and sometimes anger, at what has happened to my mom. I have the freedom to cry too.
There are shelves with rows and rows of books, tapes, and videos on Alzheimer's disease. Some of these are educational, some are uplifting, some are spiritual. All are there for any of us to use at any time at no cost. I have used them often and found additional information that has further helped me.
I would like our community to be aware of this Alzheimer Caregiver Group. The meetings are held at the Defiance Senior Center and Hicksville Senior Center on the first Thursday of every month at 1:30 p.m. There is no time limit to the meetings, but they usually last about an hour. The next scheduled meeting will be held on Aug. 7 (no meeting in July).
We caregivers vary in age, and there is a variety of ages at our meetings. For anyone dealing with Alzheimer's, whether with a spouse, parent, child, sibling, or friend, this is an excellent source of help. It sure has been for me. I want it to be for others.
Diane Moser
Defiance
Some coaches are too tough
I have been a fan of Defiance baseball for over 30 years. I am amazed at how much the program has grown over the years.
The high school program is simply awesome and the athletes are getting better and better. A lot of hard work and effort has been put into it all, but at what expense?
I was at a Little League game recently and was amazed at how some of the coaches treated the players. The coaches were always pointing out what they did bad and yelling at them instead of saying "good job" and encouraging them. I don't know how many little sad faces walking on and off the field I've seen.
Come on! These are 9-12 year-olds that like playing baseball. These are the ages they should be allowed to have fun and enjoy baseball and not have to worry about what they will do wrong and get bawled out for it. This is Defiance baseball!
These kids will develop if allowed to and mature into great ball players. In today's society, shouldn't we be encouraging our youth instead of downgrading them? As they mature, they will be able to accept constructive criticism and grow from it. Too many coaches are "my child" oriented or "my friend's child" oriented. Well, if that's the case, go to the country club and start up a baseball team.
I see coaches yelling at every other kid when they make a mistake, but they rarely yell at their own. It goes both ways. If you're going to yell at one kid for doing something wrong, then you'd better be yelling at your own for doing the same thing. Why is there so much favoritism? And, why do the coaches' kids get to play every inning of every game and in the best positions? I could see if they were the best, but they are usually the ones making the errors.
Maybe more parents should suck up to the coaches so their kids can be part of the in crowd. I'd rather not. I'd rather be a respected parent instead of a fitting in parent. And, a lot of you parents know exactly what I mean. It almost seems there is so much jealously going on. Don't take it out on an innocent kid because he plays baseball well. Who knows, he could be the next Chad Billingsley.
It's time for coaches to grow up and learn the meaning of teamwork. It's not always about me. Let me say there are a lot of good coaches in baseball and not all of them are self-centered. So, if this letter offends them, then they might want to ask what type of coach they are. Parents need to look out for their kids. If the people who teach/coach our kids don't look out for them, who will?
Tony Anderson
rural Defiance