Aloha!

In Hawai’i, aloha primarily means hello and goodbye.

For the sake of this blog, it’s goodbye!

I published my first post, “Welcome to ‘What Bil Is Saying,’” on November 4, 2016. Since then, I have written some four hundred blog posts. A few were not published because my editor thought I had gone too far. She’s a smart lady and probably right, but I love to push the envelope as far as I can, and maybe a bit further.

I have thoroughly enjoyed the experience, despite some nasty comments from people who don’t like provocative thinking. I appreciate feedback on my blogs, but rude people make it a little more difficult.

Today, I am in my ninety-fourth year and still thoroughly enjoying life. For some reason, my mind has stayed sharp, though maybe there’s a little rust around the edges.

I just finished “The Anne and Bil Love Story,” and my Annie can’t believe I remember minute details from our first meeting at 3 p.m. on August 25, 1960, at Holy Nativity Episcopal Church in Āina Haina, a suburb of Honolulu. I was twenty-eight, and I fell instantly in love with Annie. Five weeks later, I proposed, and here we are, getting ready to celebrate our sixty-fifth wedding anniversary. It’s still magical!

Annie’s dad had Alzheimer’s disease, so when Annie started to have some memory issues about thirty years ago, we checked in with a neurologist. He saw nothing alarming, but about thirteen years ago, we both became members of the UC Irvine Institute for Memory Impairments and Neurological Disorders (UCI MIND), an international research project dealing with the many different forms of dementia, especially Alzheimer’s disease.

For about six years, there was minimal evidence of cognitive issues, so Annie was labeled as having mild cognitive impairment. After her 2025 tests, Annie was relabeled with vascular dementia, the result of a stroke she had had in 1995. It was very mild, and neither of us had any idea that Annie had had a minor stroke. She went to work the next day.

We feel extremely fortunate that Annie’s dementia has progressed very slowly and, so far, hasn’t curtailed most of her activities. She no longer drives, but she still shops, cooks, socializes, exercises, and manages her medications and personal needs. She has trouble remembering days of the week, months, years, and much of our rich past. Thus, “The Anne and Bil Love Story” lies by her bed for quick reference to the wonderful life we’ve had together.

It is evident that more of my presence will be needed. Annie’s dementia is never going to get better, and I need to do more caregiving.

As I sign off, I want to thank my wonderful readers who have stuck with me over the years. I shall miss your reactions and shared thoughts, but sticking with the Hawai’ian theme, I want to say mahalo nui loa!—thank you ever so much.

Finally, I want to thank my editor, Sharon Goldinger, and her staff, ever so much for all their hard work and loyalty to me over the years. I simply write the blog and send it to Sharon, who edits it, formats it for easy reading, finds the appropriate photo, puts it all together, and delivers it to your computer every Friday morning. My posts would not be enjoyable without this wonderful group of people supporting me. Another mahalo nui loa!

PeaceLoveJoyHopeKindness

Bil

 

 

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P.S. People often ask me provocative questions about current events, both religious and secular. I have found that some of these questions are being asked universally. I’ll be periodically alternating regular articles with one of those questions and my answer. I invite you to send me your question to bilaulenbach@yahoo.com.

 

Image by Dimitris Vetsikas from Pixabay