One Word Wednesday: ESCAPE

I've always loved the idea of escaping - even before I was a full time caregiver.  A flight somewhere, a beach, a good book, a beverage with a kick!  I excel at escaping!

I've really had to rethink escaping these days.  I don't have siblings.  I don't have money.  There are few (really no!) resources for Alzheimer's patients and their carers.  But sanity is a must in the caregiving game!

Therefore, escape is necessary.

My favorite place, time and activity that is just for me (which means it qualifies as an escape) is lap swimming at 5am.  How bizarre that setting an alarm for 4:25am, putting on a swimsuit in front of strangers and pushing myself to the cardio limit would be an escape? 

But it is.  No one can bother you when you have your face in the water.  They can't start a conversation.  They can't ask you to get them anything.  They may put their legs in your lane to show that they'd like to share, but I don't even have to speak to acknowledge them.  I just have to raise my head slightly at the end, nod and scootch to one side.  I don't even have to smile if I don't want to. 

I don't even count laps anymore.  I swim for 40 minutes.  That way I don't have to focus on or be responsible for anything.  I can daydream.  I can create a story as to why there is a hairband on the bottom of the pool - who did it belong to?  Who were they at the pool with?  How old are they?  What color was their suit?  Did they stop for a smoothie on their way out?

I also get to tick off the exercise box that all of us who fear Alzheimer's need to tick off every day.  Maria Shriver's special series on Alzheimer's said 20 minutes of cardio a day might just stave off the effects of Alzheimer's for a day....I can work with that!

I get to see people that aren't my family.  I gave them all nicknames so I don't have to bother learning their real names - Super Swimmer, Murph Trunks swimmer, Long Tall swimmer, Face Mask swimmer, Gray Back swimmer (sorry for that mental picture, ladies), WWE swimmer, Think Pink swimmer, the hateful couple swimmers, Crossman swimmer...and Mr. Suspenders - he water walks, but he's one of us.  I don't have to talk to them, but I can.  I don't have to worry about them, but I do if they're not there for a few days.  I don't have to feed them or dress them or do their laundry and ... cherry on the top of these swimmers.... I don't have to answer any questions for them!  Not even once!

I have other escapes in my day - I watch Jimmy Fallon while I make dinner and I laugh!  I take 5-10 minutes for myself every morning after the kids are dropped off for school and mom has had her breakfast and the beds are made to just meditate and stretch.  I sneak upstairs for this, so I have to be careful not to yoga-breathe myself into a nap!  I pray.  I blog.  I put headphones on at least once a day and take at least a one-song vacation.  Something delicious - Al Jarreau, Justin Timberlake, James Taylor, Earth, Wind and Fire, Big Daddy Weave, Toby Mac, Christina, Michael Buble ....ahhhhh ...musical escape....

I've also been known to sneak my face into the freezer with a spoon for some ice cream therapy or run through McDonald's to have a near-religious experience with a fountain Coke Zero and there have been a couple of 2am tiptoes to the fridge for a Redd's Apple Ale and a game of 2048 on the computer before I try and go back to sleep....do any other caregivers find sleep elusive???  Or is it just my age?

And then there's Target...my great escape.  2 hours alone at Target without a list to speak of....is it just too embarrassing to admit that Target is now my beach.

So, there you have it - my many ways to escape!