Z           Zinnias

 After twenty-five days of sad and depressing posts, I want to send all my loyal readers a beautiful bunch of flowers:

My mother’s favorite flower is the gladiolus, and it’s become mine, too; but I also love the brightly colored, happy-faced zinnia, with its center surrounded by yellow stars. I just throw a few handfuls of seed into my garden, and they come up to brighten my day. Enjoy.

And now it’s time to zone out and let my poor blog (and its author) catch some Zzzzzzs for a while before I turn into a zombie. It’s been a frantic, sometimes difficult, but rewarding month. It’s been good for me to write about and share my experiences of the past few years, and I hope I’ve been able to convey some sense of what a special person my mother was and is. I also hope I’ve been able to provide some support to others who are struggling with dementia in a loved one.

I thank everyone who’s taken the time to read and comment on this blog. I appreciate all your thoughts and compassion and in some cases commiseration. The journey through dementia is a very difficult one, but being able to share so much of it has helped considerably. This group has been wonderful. Now that the chaotic month is over, I hope to go back and catch up on so many of your posts that I haven’t been able to read till now. I think we have all done a fantastic job, so let’s raise a glass of zinfandel and give each other a toast!