It is Guest blog Sunday.  Today, we’re going to try a little bit of a different format.

I met today’s guest blogger, Julie Goyder, in a comment she made over at Diana Schwenk’s blog — Talk to Diana. The story she told about what she learned from a man with Alzheimer’s whom she ‘agreed’ to marry touched my heart. In its telling, I got a glimpse of the heart of Julie — deep, caring, compassionate.

When I connected with Julie to ask if she would be willing to share the story here, she quickly agreed and today, Julie is the guest blogger.

What’s different about the format is that I am only sharing the opening of her blog about ‘Joe’ and then, it’s up to you to click the link and head over to Julie’s place for the rest of the story.

It will be worth your effort. Julie is a good story-teller. Her story about Joe, a patient with Alzheimer’s for whom she cared in a longterm facility, is touching and inspiring. and, if you stay and visit awhile, her sharing of her journey through Parkinson’s Disease with her husband Anthony will touch your heart.

Please, do click the links below to read the whole story.

And… once you’re at Julie’s place, do check out h the rest of her blog.  I’ve never met a woman who owns peacocks and hens and ganders and who has a son who creates music sitting in the middle of a paddock!

And thank you Julie for sharing your story and your heart. You have touched mine and made a difference.

May we all have a Julie in our life!

THE JOE STORY

(excerpt published with permission from JM Goyder)

I first met Joe several years ago, when I began to work in a small nursing home in Western Australia. I’d been nursing for about ten years and had looked after a large number of people with Alzheimer’s Disease before meeting Joe, so I didn’t take much notice of him at first. He was just another Alzheimer’s patient sitting in an easychair, mostly silent but sometimes yelling out in sudden anger. I changed his trousers when he was incontinent, I showered him when he was on my list and I fed him his dinner. In the daily reports I would write “Joe, no change”.

Things did change however.

One afternoon I was in the panroom which was directly opposite the entrance to the dayroom. Joe was always seated in the chair facing this entrance. As usual, he was slumped down in his chair so I went over and hoisted him up into a more comfortable position. He suddenly lashed out and punched me in the side shouting, “Leave me alone, you bastard!” – which, when he did speak, was a fairly typical coment from him.

Please click the links to read the rest of the story. There are four segments — all quite short — and all worth reading….  The Joe Story – Part 1,     Part 2,    Part 3,      Part 4, Part 5.