Headlines for this quarter include:
- Mary Speaks: Brooksby Village Chapel Presentation 10/5/2011
- Marymac Missions’ YouTube Channel created 10/14/2011
- On-site Programs 2012 Schedule started
- 0.1 Mile MargFMac Front Garden Loop Provides Universal Access to Seven Gardens (Completed 11/15/2011)
- Holiday Walk & Wheel Celebrated by 50 Guests 12/17/2011
- Viability Research Begins to Offer Small Group Programs at Mary & Karl’s Home

Happy Holidays!
~ Mary

Learn more about this precedent-setting project by watching the video clips in our “Accessible Garden Design” playlist on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/user/marymacmissions

Moving forward with a listening heart,
vision, inquiry, and action,
~ Mary

The “Rest.Stop.Ranch: Brooksby Village Chapel Presentation” that I delivered in Peabody, MA on Oct 5, is now available at our YouTube channel “marymacmissions.” The presentation includes the following clips:
1- Intro and Welcome
2- Quick Check Guided Breathing Experience
3- Letting Go Guided Meditation Experience
4- My Life Changing Experience
5- My Recovery and Renewal
6- Website Demo: rest-stop-ranch.com
7- Rest.Stop.Ranch Garden Slideshow
8- A Social Enterprise
9- Comments, Questions, Conclusion

The “Mary Speaks” playlist is described as:
Three years after her mom’s death from the neurodegenerative illness FTD (known as one of the toughest dementias/mental illnesses on families), Mary E. MacDonald, founder of Marymac Missions, answers the invitation to speak about her personal story and demonstrate the new services that have evolved from a devastating experience. The 60-minute presentation at Brooksby Village Chapel, Peabody, MA has been edited into a handful of easy-access web clips. Recorded: Oct 5, 2011.

Please share with families and friends who may benefit.

Moving forward with a listening heart,
vision, inquiry and action,
~ Mary

Read the transcript.

Thank you WBUR for reporting on this topic affecting so many of us.

My personal story, recorded Oct 5 at Brooksby Village, Peabody, MA, will be available on the “marymacmissions” YouTube channel in a couple of weeks.

Moving forward with a listening heart,
vision, inquiry and action,
~ Mary

They have done a great job covering a story about Theresa and Mary Agnes – a Boston-based daughter and mom (age 82) living with early stage Alzheimer’s. A year ago, Theresa started a Twitter account (@maryagneskelley) that shares her mom’s voice with the world. In the below excerpt, Mary Agnes says, “easy does it… but do it.” This inspires my own steps forward and illustrates the wisdom expressed by persons living with dementia who are so often our teachers (even when compromised physically and mentally by degenerative cognitive disease). Words are not always possible. Love and light move in and through us without form.

Moving forward with a listening heart,
vision, inquiry and action,
~ Mary

Mary is still in the earlier stages of Alzheimer’s disease.

“I’m ready to accept the fact that there’s a time where she may not remember me,” Theresa said. “A neurologist said to me once, you may want to get your shield of armor ready. But that doesn’t bother me personally. Even if she doesn’t remember me, I’ll still be coming down here to be with her.”

Theresa said she plans to keep tweeting for her mother until the very end.

“That will be my hardest tweet to send out, when Mary goes straight to heaven. But we’re going to keep tweeting, right?” she asked her mom. “Oh, I hope so,” Mary said. “I’ll get better at it in time.”

Theresa asked Mary if there was anything she wanted to say to all her followers on Twitter.

“Easy does it,” Mary said. “But do it.”

“That might be her tweet for the day,” Theresa laughed. “Yeah, we’ll tweet that later.”

Here is the playlist description:
Mary and Margaret video clips show interactions between Mary E. MacDonald, founder of marymac missions, and her mom, Margaret, who is living (at the time of the recordings) with a neurodegenerative brain illness (FTD with Parkinson’s symptoms). The clips are offered as positive examples of going with the flow, creating meaningful goodbyes, and naming our own feelings/awareness when paradox is present. The descriptions associated with each clip provide a light analysis of what’s really happening here – from the perspective of the caregiver (Mary) and the care-receiver (Margaret). The clips also illustrate that the primary caregiver has so much potential to influence positive interactions with the person they care for who lives with a degenerative cognitive disease. A memorial video shows the vibrancy of Margaret’s life as a child, young adult, wife, mom, and teacher.

Please share these new resources with friends and families you know who may benefit.

Moving forward with a listening heart,
vision, inquiry and action,
~ Mary

We will be posting sections of the presentation to this site and/or the rest-stop-ranch.com site as the video clips become available.

Moving forward with a listening heart,
vision, inquiry and action,
~ Mary

Read the article, “Increasing the Options, Supporting Life Experience”

The Room 217 Foundation is a Canadian organization that supports palliative care at end-of-life. The founder, Bev Foster, has a personal story similar to my own, in that she has used music since her teenage years to comfort family and friends living with illness and then turned that into a broader outreach. Read an excerpt from her story below:

Since 2005, the music of Room 217 has been a peaceful presence in the lives of thousands of people. While palliative care is at the heart of Room 217, the Room 217 resources have been embraced as comprehensive therapeutic music resources that reach across the live span and offer relaxation, encouragement, sleep promotion, comfort and support in a broad range of circumstances and rooms around the world. The most common uses include:

- wellbeing
- caregiving
- therapeutic intervention
- spritual enrichment
- atmosphere
- Alzheimer’s and dementia care
- end-of-life and after care
- recreation and leisure
- baby care

In 2008, the Room 217 Foundation not-for-profit corporation was established and in April 2009 we became a registered Canadian charity.

Moving forward with a listening heart,
vision, inquiry and action,
~ Mary

Happy Fall!
~ Mary

Today is World Alzheimer’s Day.  It is also the first year anniversary of the day our small team North of Boston launched the website, rest-stop-ranch.com.  The initial intention of the site was to serve dementia caregivers.  This group of 70+ million individuals worldwide, after four years of 24/7 dementia care, are at higher risk for heart disease, heart attacks, hospitalizations, chronic depression and anxiety, and death… due to the chronic stress of a dementia caregiving role.

Today we are proud to announce the launch a new free service on the rest-stop-ranch.com website, designed to provide additional support to caregivers and care-receivers.  The “Me Moments Collection” is a podcast library of two-, five- and ten-minute relaxation breaks (including musical interludes) which users may select  based on their specific needs (i.e. relax or revive, meditate while sitting or walking, restore on a park bench, on a sofa, in a recliner…)  

The Me Moments Collection is available as a complimentary service to registered users of our website. There is no fee to register. Simply visit http://www.rest-stop-ranch.com/wp-admin/ and sign up. We will email you a password and instructions for how to access the library. (If you would like to preview some of our Me Moments episodes before you register, visit http://www.rest-stop-ranch.com/me-moments-sampler/ .) 

ALSO NEW… Our recently published “Take Care of Yourself: Seven Sustainable Skills for the Long-Term Care Journey” journal and pocket guide is now available at the rest-stop-ranch.com gift shop, Rest.Stop.Shop.  These print publications offer support and coping tips in the areas of intentional breathing, meditation, restorative postures, long-distance nutrition, 24/7 retreat strategies, art, music and movement therapies.

Please share these resources with friends and family members experiencing Alzheimer’s/Dementia and other long-term illnesses.

Sincerely,

Mary E. MacDonald, M.A.
Founder, marymac missions LLC