Celebrations Cancelled by Donna L. Scrafano As a family, we were wringing our hands about having a gathering for Christmas, my birthday (December 26), and New Year’s Eve. After all, a new Covid-19 variant was rearing its ugly head all over the world. But the decision was made. A text went out inviting only close Read more
Decision to Move by Donna L. Scrafano Looking back, I remember first the challenges, as that’s how my brain tends to operate. I recalled my then-90-year-old father became more frail and therefore more dependent on me. His frailty was at the core of some major decision making and vast changes that would occur for both Read more
My New Normal by Donna Scrafano One of the many witty quotes from author and Christian motivational speaker Patsy Clairmont is “Normal is just a setting on your dryer.” She has also published a book with that title. Although I have not read the book, ever since I heard this quote quite a few years Read more
Listen to Your Body by Donna Scrafano For quite some time I’ve read articles and books and attended training sessions that promoted the idea of how very intelligent our bodies are and how we should listen to them. It’s only the last five years or so, however, that I have begun taking this concept seriously. Read more
MY MOTHER’S VOICE: Stolen by Alzheimer’s by Donna L. Scrafano Painting featured by Judith Carlin The medical consensus believes that Alzheimer’s disease has purely biological causes. I feel, however, that traumatic events can also trigger this dreadful disease. This belief is based on my personal experience watching my mother battle Alzheimer’s. The first trauma came Read more
Caregiving During Difficult Times by Donna L Scrafano Although my caregiving duties ended with my father’s death prior to the 2020 pandemic, I continued to facilitate a caregiver support group at the YWCA in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, where my father once attended an adult program. During the pandemic, I’m continuing to facilitate the group via phone, Read more
Emotional Spring Cleaning by Donna Scrafano Spring is usually the season when we clean out our brick-and-mortar homes and closets for the coming year. But Spring is also a good time to clean out any toxic energy that may have infiltrated our lives. Such toxic energy may come in the forms of everyday stressors, pending Read more
The Other “F” Word by Donna Scrafano I hope the title of this article didn’t get anyone’s bottoms in a bunch. This title flew out of my mouth while meeting with a client, approximately twenty years ago. The client was sharing her stories about abuse suffered by her family of origin. The client processed her Read more
And Just Like That . . . I’m a Great-grandmother by Donna Scrafano When I would hear someone say “time flies” as a younger person, I didn’t pay much attention. In fact, I don’t believe I paid close attention to this adage until my late fifties. By then I had my first five grandchildren. In Read more
Retirement, Reinventing, Redesigning by Donna L. Scrafano As a young professional and a single parent, the answer I gave when asked about retirement was, “I’ll be dropping dead at a desk somewhere because I’ll never be able to retire.” A bleak answer, for sure. As the fates would have it, I took an early, unplanned Read more
