Travel plans
Reporting live from the homefront, where life with Lewy Body Dementia is never dull (and sometimes unintentionally hilarious). James and I are gearing up for not one, but TWO trips in the next couple of months — but first, here’s why traveling feels more urgent than ever.
The Living Room Guests (a.k.a. Lewy’s Party Tricks)
Recently, James has been getting dressed the moment he gets out of bed. Not because he’s suddenly an early-bird fashionista, but because…well, imagine needing to walk through your living room to get to the bathroom, and finding it already occupied.
By strangers.
Sitting calmly on your chairs.
At 7 a.m.
That’s been James’s reality lately. Lewy has been sending “visitors” to hang out on our couch, in our garden chairs, even occasionally elsewhere in the house. And while James knows they’re not real, it still leaves him feeling confused and ashamed.
Sometimes Lewy even pulls the “twin trick.” I’ll be in the kitchen, but James will also see a duplicate version of me in the bathroom. His way of sorting out which “me” is real? He talks to us. If one doesn’t answer, she’s the fake. (Note to self: always answer promptly, or risk being mistaken for an imposter.)
It’s bewildering, yes. But sometimes we laugh about the crowds — and when we do, they tend to vanish.
The Marshal Wall Ride (or, How to Outpedal Lewy)
When things get rough, we’ve learned the best medicine is movement. So yesterday, we charged up the trike, packed potato salad and power bars, and headed for a classic ride: the Marshal Wall to Tomales Bay.
The sun started out smiling, but soon the headwinds hit, the fog rolled in, and we found ourselves riding through what felt like a giant cold misting machine. Did we turn back? Nope. James cranked up turbo mode, I dug deep into stubborn mode, and we kept going.
Moral of the story? Keep going, keep going, keep going.
The Travel Plans (because why not?)
So with that spirit, we’re packing our bags:
✈️ Trip #1: To Austin for our granddaughter Mabel’s 2nd birthday bash! All three of us — James, me, and Coby (our wonderful friend, supporter, and co-pilot of this GoFundMe journey) — will be there. Even Lewy is coming along, though we hope he stays politely in the background.
✈️ Trip #2: To Chacala, Mexico at the end of October, where our dear friends from our 2012 Americas cycling tour are waiting with open arms. It feels urgent, a “now or never” kind of trip, and we are saying YES.
How You Can Help
This is where you, our faithful crew of supporters, come in. Your generosity is the wind in our sails and the turbo boost on James’s trike. Every contribution, big or small, keeps us moving forward — toward love, laughter, and maybe even one more adventure to see our friends in Chacala, Mexico.
And in case you were wondering — yes, James did suggest asking his “living room visitors” for a contribution to our travel fund. Sadly, they’ve been very quiet on that front.
So we turn to you, our real-life, truly generous community. You’ve been the ones making these adventures possible, and we’re endlessly grateful.
Here’s to more potato salad picnics, more foggy rides, more laughing at invisible crowds, and more chances to say yes while we still can.
With gratitude, love, and slightly sore legs,
Margit and James ❤️🚴🌎
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