by Irene Frances Olson, AlzAuthors Global Outreach Coordinator
The quickest method to connect with someone is the virtual, social media connection with which we are all familiar. But unless a person crosses the precipice from virtual to real, there is no way to truly understand the benefit of in-person relationships.
That was the case for the AlzAuthors Management Team when all six of us convened at the 2018 National Caregiving Conference in Chicago. The team was generously gifted with the opportunity to gather from the corners of the world from which we hail: the states of Washington, Montana, Ohio, North Carolina, and New York, and the Canadian province of Ontario. Meeting for the first time was a highly anticipated emotional event that proved beyond beneficial to me. You think you know someone after spending months, or even years, emailing, texting, and video-calling, but what I discovered is you can’t truly know a person until extended real – not virtual – facetime occurs.
I met with as many conference attendees as I could and having done so, I came away concluding that community is everything. Like-minded individuals – at least 250 of them – gathered together for several days to feed the spirit, nourish the soul, and further the mission of being a support to the weary caregiver.
Regardless of which disease renders a person in need of care – Alzheimer’s, cancer, ALS, and the like – caregiver heroes need as much support as can be given. A powerful community goes a long way toward lessening a person’s burden, and as AlzAuthors has been known to say:
One can sing a lonely song, but we chose to form a choir and create harmony.
