What Do Christmases Past, Alzheimer’s Disease Month, and Native American Month have in Common?

"She washes her good blouses with face soap . . . in the sink!” a woman complained to me. “You know, she has Alzheimer’s.” 

My friend’s mother lived through many decades with life shaping-events: one was the Great Depression and the other, World War II. Those years wired into her permanent thinking a lifetime of perceptions and behavior: with no money, no job and then rationing of many necessities. If she was lucky enough to have soap, regardless of the type - facial, laundry or dish washing – she could wash her clothes in the sink or bathtub and hang them to dry. She was indeed a fortunate person. That is why, today, Mom washes her good clothes in ways that are no longer necessary. She remembers the past and meets the needs of the day with old wiring. 

In, Christmas Feathers, my short story in a collection titled, Christmases Past, Rachel Rush’s fear and behavior were shaped by the Indian Wars. How would the new frontier community of Greenville, find peace and freedom from fear between the settlers and the Native Americans who chose to remain? A new life-shaping event changed her perceptions . . . permanently.  

Sunday is the first day of Advent, the days leading up to Christmas.  Will you use the life-changing event of the birth of Jesus Christ, to wire a new path in your thoughts and emotions that will heal your heart and the lives around you, like they did in Christmases Past, and those who survived other major historic events? Those with Alzheimer ’s disease do not have the years left in their Length of Days to apply their new experiences and learning. You and I do.  

All of these elements have Christ in common: His forgiveness and grace in the lives of frontier families; His acceptance and love as we help our elder loved ones remember Christmases Past. 

Doris

Copyright 2014 Doris Gaines Rapp 

Collection:

Christmas Feather, one of eight short stories in a wonderful collection titled, Christmases Past 

Non-Fiction:

Waiting for Jesus in a Can’t Wait World – Advent 2014

Prayer Therapy of Jesus

Promote Yourself 

Novelette:

News at Eleven (Glo Magazine Jan, Feb, March, and April 2015)
Novels:

Length of Days – The Age of Silence

Escape from the Belfry

Smoke from Distant Fires

Hiawassee – Child of the Meadow

Length of Days – Beyond the Valley (January 2015)

News at Eleven – A Novel (April 2015)
Children’s:

Lincoln’s Christmas Mouse