Old Man Lunch is a podcast about three old friends, one of us was recently diagnosed with Alzheimer’s at the age of 55.
Our goal is to provide a deep look into how Alzheimer’s impacts Matt life as well as his family, friends, wife and children. We want to talk about the daily challenges, frustrations, and believe it or not, freedoms (Matt’s words), that Alzheimer’s has brought into his life.
While the podcast and talking about the disease seems to help Matt, and we hope others with dementia, he also does a fair amount of writing these days. Matt sits down weekly with a friend for an hour or two and they just write about whatever is on their minds.
Understandably, Alzheimer's is often on Matt's mind these days so much of his writing has to do with the disease and how he is coping. I have found much of it quite beautiful and moving so we thought it would be a good idea to share some of his writing here at the Old Man Lunch blog.
Matt is calling the whole journal project, Noble Silence - Above the Clouds and this is the first entry which was written on New Years Day, last year. Matt reads this piece in our first podcast episode and we have a brief discussion about it.
Give it a read, listen to the podcast, follow us, write a review and most importantly, keep coming back.
Jan 1st-, 2024: A year of Writing with AM
OK- here we go…the intention here is for this to be my journal for the next year- a daily contemplation about mind and memory and heart and aspiration.
Walking a few days ago with my beautiful wife, Laia and Lucy the wonder dog I had something of an epiphany- maybe it had to do with the majestic bald eagle that posed for us atop a towering light pole on the trail we were on- or maybe I have been growing toward the feeling that rose and then left my body through speech.
I said to Laia: I have come to a decision- one I did not recognize or see until this morning- which is that I have a choice about my illness and my diagnosis of early onset Alzheimer’s disease. That I can make a choice to “not get sick”, to not continue the drive down the road of further debilitation and confusion and to “remember” frequently that I can make this choice.
Does it sound a little crazy- yes! Will it “work” in slowing or lessening the effects of my sickness? Will it lead to a better outcome? Are these important questions, yes! Do I have the power or ability to manifest health despite the lurking fear and anxiety of an eventual disintegration of my mind? The answer is yes, I do! Can it, could it, will it be as easy as that? Yes.
Am I already out of my mind? Maybe. Do I care? Not a bit. Now- don’t get me wrong… I will die eventually- or maybe tomorrow when the landing gear of the distant airliner crossing over my vector dislodges the internal bolt that for days has vibrated until completely free and falls on my head like a falling star as I walk my beloved Lucy.
So, at least for today: to summarize: I have made my choice to not get sick and I’m sticking with it.
“Seeing illness as a blessing- a path to greater clarity and compassion.”
Two sides of the same coin- the sick one and caregiver
The wisdom of no escape- from AM and Karen
