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DCG Living Hx Mobile Museum and School

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

Each week, the new DCG (dementia-caregiver) Living Hx (history) Mobile Museum and School travels from Topsfield Rest.Stop.Ranch Caretaker’s Cottage to Concord, NH’s Havenwood Heritage Heights’ campuses “Havenwood” (serving independent, home-care, assisted living, and skilled nursing residents) and “Heritage Heights,” (serving independent residents and those receiving home-care). Each month, a new interactive exhibit featuring an artifact from […]

Save the Date: 3/18, 10am – 3pm: Grow Spring! EXPO

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

Look for the “Rest.Stop.Ranch Respite Retreat Center & Accessible Gardens” educational & interactive 8-foot table exhibit, at the Emerson Center or Gould Barn on 3/18.  Learn & experience the therapeutic activities we offer at our Seasonal (April -October) Memory Café & Sunday Strolls programs, for people with disabilities and care-partners, specializing in Alzheimer’s/dementia-care. Our “Dementia-Care Musical Theatre” integrates horticultural, […]

April 1, a Weekly Memory Café Begins, Saturdays, 10a-12p 

Contemplation in Action, Events, Funding Awards, Healing Grief & Loss, Survivor's Mission, Trauma Recovery & Renewal

We support families impacted by long-term-care, in an inclusive, friendly, judgement-free, and joy-filled indoor/outdoor environment, once-a-week, Apr-Oct. 1.  Our Dementia-Friendly Garden/Memory Café program will welcome visitors with dementia and their care-partners on Saturday mornings, from 10am – 12noon, April – October. 2. We hope the increased options for visiting will enable more caregivers and loved ones […]

Transforming Two Seeds of Discontent, since 2010 

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

This past week I was interviewed by my undergraduate alma mater, University of Rochester, in New York State, for their Rochester Review alumni magazine.  Once again, thankfully, I was indirectly invited to become crystal-clear on what I and we’ve been doing since 2010, and why.  I was able to articulate that it’s really two seeds of discontent, […]

Pinned by Daughters of the American Revolution!

Celebration, Funding Awards, Healing Grief & Loss, Survivor's Mission, Trauma Recovery & Renewal

When Wendy Renda contacted me by e-mail, from the Brigadier General James Brickett-Old Newbury Chapter… I hardly believed it… Every year we select someone who has done outstanding work in their community and I am happy to report that you were chosen this year. We would like to recognize you and present you with the […]

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 […]