Tuesday, November 9, 2010

NaBloPoMo: Day 9- Fraidy Cat

I'm doing National Blog Posting Month with a twist. Every day I'll write 5 things on a specific topic.

NaBloPoMo Day Nine-5 things I fear

1. Alzheimers~ In my last job in Massachusetts, I took a training class in caring for people with Alzheimers. I found that I had the patience for it and did long-term home care for 3 clients with diagnosed Alzheimers and many more with other types of dementia. I pray that I never develop that disease. The fear, confusion and frustration in these patients is so sad. I hope I age the way almost all of my relatives have done. They live to be in their 90's and have sharp minds throughout their elderly years.

2. Blindness~ I know for a fact that I am a visual learner. You can't explain things to me, you have to show me how to do it. My hearing is not perfect, so I tend to read lips a little when I'm in a conversation or watching movies. My hobbies are reading, knitting, scrapbooking and crossword puzzles and I depend on my eyes in each one. If you gave me a choice between losing my hearing or my eyesight, I would rather lose my hearing.

3. Falling~ Since I fell on my face this summer, I have developed a fear of falling. I climb stairs slower than an 80 year old and I watch the sidewalk for the tiniest crack that could trip me. I need to learn how to throw my arms up quickly in case I find myself doing a faceplant again.

4. Enclosed Spaces~ The first time I experienced this, we were camping in a small tent. I woke up during the night and felt like the ceiling of the tent was too close to my face. I could feel my breath bouncing off the tent and blowing back onto my face. When I worked at Pottery Barn, I was assigned to inventory a very small room where we stored the glassware. The room was about 30 feet long, but only about 3 feet wide. After spending about 4 hours in there, I went out to my car on a break and cried!

5. Squirrels~Not Country Squirrels. They're cute and they run around in the backyard, eat breakfast in the strawberry patch and scamper away when you open the door. It's the City Squirrels that creep me out. They aren't afraid of people. They attack people in the park and bite their ankles! They sit on the landing between me and my front door and stare me down! They sit on a branch over the sidewalk and make jerky motions. I just know they're thinking about jumping on my head as I pass under the tree!

I'm pretty sure my obituary will say that I died of fright after being locked in a closet with a City Squirrel.

4 comments:

Monnik said...

My mom is blind and an avid reader and she crochets absolutely gorgeous blankets. I totally understand your fear and am not trying to minimize it. Just sharing my perspective. :)

Squirrels are creepy. In total agreement with you there. ;)

Jen on the Edge said...

I have some of the same fears, including Alzheimers and blindness.

About your fall and your fear of another one: Have you considered taking tai chi and/or yoga to help you with your balance and stability? My father-in-law had some falls that scared him, but while he was in rehab for his stroke, he started tai chi and it's done wonders for him.

robertga99 said...

Good ones! Mine would probably include falling along with death/dying and snakes.

The squirrel one cracked me up though. I have a friend at work who is terrified of them. I took my nephew to a park where they will come up to you. We were feeding one and it took the nut from his hand a little too roughly. My nephew was on my back in half a second and wouldn't feed anymore after that.

Anonymous said...

You are so funny! But I share your fear of 1 and 4 too.