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Rest.Stop.Ranch Caretaker's Cottage, When Pigs Fly

FTD Boston North & Other Younger Onset Caregivers – Monthly Support Group Begins Jan 12, 2017

Contemplation in Action, Healing Grief & Loss, News, Programs: Support Group, Survivor's Mission, Trauma Recovery & Renewal

Friends,  Please contact me with questions and share with people who may benefit: NEW ALZHEIMER’S ASSOCIATION SPONSORED SUPPORT GROUP: Topsfield Younger Onset Caregivers Group Meets 2nd Thursday of the Month, 6:30-8pm at Rest.Stop.Ranch Caretaker’s Cottage (the home of Mary E MacDonald and Karl R Ackerman) 202 Haverhill Road, Topsfield, MA 01983 Free-of-charge and Open to […]

Nov. 20 @ 11am Memory Café Talk @ Topsfield Church

News, Survivor's Mission, Trauma Recovery & Renewal

View/Download the Flyer 112016 Memory Cafe Talk with Mary and Karl Join us at the Topsfield Congregational Church Emerson Center at 11am this coming Sunday to learn about our Topsfield, MA respite programs for dementia caregivers, including the monthly Memory Café (April – October), and 2-Hour Individual Guided Respite Retreat. Free and Open to the […]

10 Ways You Can Help a Dementia Caregiver

News, Survivor's Mission, Trauma Recovery & Renewal

November is National Family Caregiver Month and National Alzheimer’s Disease Awareness Month, and chances are you know a family member, friend, or neighbor who is caring for someone with a long-term illness like dementia. Here are 10 ways you can help a caregiver – not just in November, but year-round: 1. Validate the caregiver’s personal […]

Book Cover: The Alzheimer's and Memory Café: How to start and succeed with your own café

The Memory Café at Rest.Stop.Ranch in Topsfield is Featured in New Book

Announcements, Events, News, Survivor's Mission, Trauma Recovery & Renewal

Wheelchair-accessible gardens, with a focus on caregiver respite, makes it unique (November 8, 2016 – Topsfield, MA) The Memory Café at the Rest.Stop.Ranch in Topsfield, MA is featured in a new book, The Alzheimer’s and Memory Café: How to Start and Succeed with Your Own Café (Jytte Fogh Lokvig, PhD, Endless Circle Press, 2016). The […]

Funeral for a Forty-four-year-old Friend

Contemplation in Action, Healing Grief & Loss, News, Reflection, Survivor's Mission, Trauma Recovery & Renewal

This Monday and Tuesday I attended a wake and funeral for a forty-four-year-old friend, I had not met before, who ended his life. I was present to support the surviving members of the family, to pray for the deceased, and to pray for my contemporaries, in mid-life, who are struggling with personal pain and unremitting […]

Mary and Edith at the MA State House, Front Steps, 5/11/2016

ALZ Advocacy Day @ MA State House

Announcements, Healing Grief & Loss, News, Survivor's Mission, Trauma Recovery & Renewal

We were there, today… we wore purple and listened to speakers speak about their dementia-related stories and the MA legislative priorities: Massachusetts Alzheimer’s Project Act (S.1196/H.2057) Alzheimer’s Public Awareness Campaign Continuing Medical Education for Physicians (H.3384) Alzheimer’s Care Training for Elder Protective Services Workers (S.360/H.516) We also tracked down our local representatives (Topsfield) in the […]

U.S. Suicide Rate Report & Rest.Stop.Ranch Support

Announcements, Healing Grief & Loss, News, Research, Survivor's Mission, Trauma Recovery & Renewal

Friends, A mid-life crisis due to most difficult dementia-caregiving is what I experienced in 2007-2008. The crisis caused me to found on April 19,2010, MaryMac Missions LLC, as a single-person social enterprise, to raise awareness, educate and support other caregivers experiencing difficulties with dementia-caregiving. Most of these “other caregivers” are mostly women and mostly middle-age. […]

Love in Action, Makes a Difference

MaryMac Missions is 1 of 13 MA DDS Inclusive Memory Cafe Contracts Awarded!

Announcements, Celebration, Contemplation in Action, Healing Grief & Loss, News, Survivor's Mission

Karl and I are thrilled to receive a contract from the Massachusetts Department of Developmental Services to further develop and implement our inclusive memory café. Please enjoy reading the letter below that we received just yesterday. It appears that we are the only Ma & Pa provider on the list (MaryMac Missions, Topsfield). Learn more […]

Toughest Job in the World?

Contemplation in Action, News, Reflection, Survivor's Mission

A commercial from Hillary Clinton’s campaign states that the American Presidency is the toughest job in the world. I respectfully disagree. The President has work hours, a salary, health benefits, and vacation time. 24/7 Family dementia caregivers do not have these job benefits. I would love to hear the 2016 presidential candidates speak on the […]

Writing Social Justice for Dementia Caregivers

Healing Grief & Loss, News, Survivor's Mission, Trauma Recovery & Renewal

On this St. Andrew’s Day (Scotland), and the last day of November, National (U.S.) Alzheimer’s Disease Awareness Month and National (U.S.) Family Caregivers Month, I pray for a divine intervention for the millions of 24/7 unpaid family dementia-caregivers-in-the-now, especially those experiencing duress and despair, that they may experience: a freedom and peace in their role… […]