Christmas Gifts Caregivers Can Give Themselves

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Call 866-WINASIA or to see chickens and other animals to donate, go to crittercampaign.org. Peter Rosenberger, he's Irish on his mother's side. Welcome to Hope for the Caregiver.

I am Peter Rosenberger. This is the nation's number one show for you as a family caregiver. Glad to have you with us. How are you feeling? How are you doing? How are you holding up? What's going on in your life as a caregiver? 877-655-6755, if you want to be a part of the show, 877-655-6755. We've got a big show lined up. A lot of information to unpack today for family caregivers.

It's about helping you stay strong and healthy as you care for someone who is not. And we're glad you're part of the show. Joining me, as always, is himself, the Baron of the Board, Sultan of Sound, the Earl of Engineering, the Elf on the Shelf, the Minch on the Bench. He is the man who loves Christmas, John Butler, everyone.

And I do love Christmas. How are you doing, Peter? I got to give you a theme song. Here he is. John Butler, everybody.

Take a twirl. I will part the curtains and grace everyone with my voice, apparently. You love Christmas, don't you? I absolutely love Christmas. It is a fantastic, it's the most wonderful time of the year. Well, are your kids excited?

They very much are. I mean, it's a weird year for everybody, so this is going to be a little bit different. I'm not going to have any family over or anything like that, unfortunately. What are you cooking?

Oh, that is still a little bit up in the air. I might do a beef wellington like I did for Thanksgiving last year. I know there's going to be at least one cheesecake involved. I don't know how, the only question is how many cheesecakes are involved, which brings me to our first gift you can give yourself as a caregiver.

No, no, no. Yeah, but I'll get to that later. Well, we've been doing a series on gifts that caregivers can give to themselves, and we've had quite a few good ones. We've had the one where you send a card to yourself because sometimes your loved one cannot, which I do like that one a lot. And that may be still one of my more favorite ones as far as just something that's unique and different that nobody's ever really talked about before, but I like that one.

The other one is low investment. Yes, yes. And then you go, you give yourself the gift of health and call your primary care physician and your dentist, not or, and your dentist, and set up an appointment to take care of you physically. And wish them Merry Christmas, you know?

And do wish them Merry Christmas. I like to do that when the dentist is, I like to go to the dentist after eating a box full of Oreos. Don't do that, that's really, it's just that it's so you. But we got some more today. And then what else have we talked about? We've done do something physical. And let's see, I think that I can't remember, I might be, I might be doubling up here, but that's okay. That's okay. These are all something physical doesn't have to mean running a marathon.

Just right. Just get up and walk around and go for a walk and so forth. And these are doing something that brings joy to your heart, like gardening. Yes, you're saying or playing the piano or, you know, unless if it's playing, if it's playing the banjo or the accordion, I think you might need to go see your doctor first before you The bagpipe. It's a definition of a gentleman is a man who can play the banjo, but won't.

But chooses not to. Yes. So the one for today, speaking of cheesecake, is I know this one's going to preach in a meddling, I'm telling you, but make one small change in your diet. Just a little one.

And that's goes along with the health and senior position. But yes, we're going to have cheesecake for Christmas, or, you know, mincemeat pie or whatever it is, you know, there's, there's the holidays are a rough time for this one in particular, but this is a long term thing. And, you know, maybe, maybe don't drink soda anymore. Maybe just say I'm have coffee or, you know, with without sugar or I know this is the south and unsweet tea is, oh, I'm gonna get in trouble. But, you know, just water even.

But, or, you know, maybe try to try avocados. If you haven't done that recently and see if you really I will tell you something I have done. And I'm gonna go on.

I'm not I'm not getting religious about this. I'm just doing it. Okay. And that's, that's a thing.

I'm not getting it 100% right. But I am really trying to watch gluten. Okay, and I'll tell you why. I have been dealing with this problem with my left knee for some time now I had had an operating on this this year, and I have some arthritis in it. And I've been under the impression, and I may be wrong on this but that gluten does not necessarily help arthritis. Gotcha. And so I thought, well, let me try. I mean, I'm not, I'm not going to swear off of every bit of it, but I'm going to consciously reduce it down. And see and see what the results are, you know, and that's because we don't argue with those if it works, even if it's a placebo. I'm great.

Go for it. Absolutely. Well, Grayson, our son, you know, he has been on a pretty big kick and he's like dropped 35 pounds since August. Really pushing himself to get in some superb shape. But he said dairy, sugar and bread was yes, he just walked away from it.

And it's like it just melted off of him. And so, you know, I don't know for caregivers, that's hard because it's you can't just throw out everything in the house and start up from scratch and, and things such as that, but you can start making conscious decisions just and this is a small change. Yeah. Yeah. This is one small change in your diet, you know, and water is a lot cheaper than soda.

I'm just saying it is. And here's something else I've done. Something else I've done. Yogurt. I have, instead of, I like desserts, I like sweets and I will indulge and this time of year particularly, but it's, I've been having, I keep a thing of Greek yogurt in the refrigerator and then some, uh, try to get some gluten free, but, but if not just good, healthy granola and some berries. Right. And that's my dessert, you know, and it's great. It's really, really good with blueberries and yogurt. Oh my goodness. Oh yeah. And it's tasty for, it's tasty and nutritious.

And again, I say this to caregivers, not to in any way say, okay, here's how you, here's the diet for caregivers, you know, the caregiver diet. I don't care about the worst thing you could do. I just think we just make small changes, very small changes to help us along our way because, um, one step in the right direction is two steps away from the wrong direction. Exactly. And so this is what we're doing. Do you got another one? I do. I think we're running out of time, but I've got, I've got, I've got two or three more, uh, that we can do.

We can do a little bit next week too. Um, but, um, isolation is something we talk about all the time. And, uh, you know, uh, if it's very difficult in 2020 and this was written before then. So going to church or other places of worship might not be possible for everybody.

Um, especially if you're like immunocompromised or something like that, but, uh, maybe, you know, you can slip in and just listen to the music from way in the back and be nice and distant or something like that. You know? Well, technology has changed so much that we can actually video conference with each other and watch the same movie. Did you know? Oh yeah. No, yeah. Uh, you can do this through with a VR helmet, like in, go to a concert and hang out with other people in VR helmets in a special place in the concert. Well, I wasn't, I wasn't quite going there, but just so you know, technology is really, really great. Um, but you can, you know, I know many, many churches have virtual services where you can, you can sit through it.

And, uh, and, and from I think they stream, they stream mass from the Vatican on Christmas Eve. Oh, absolutely. Yeah. Yeah.

And, uh, but it's, um, they, uh, it's, it's not just the VR stuff that you can actually sync up so that you're watching the same movie at the same time through a network. Yeah. Like be on the phone or Skype call or something like that. Yeah. Yeah. You can, you can have your video conference up or your FaceTime or whatever, or just be on the phone and that's going to make commentary about the sermons, like in real time, that's going to get bad. I'm talking about for a movie or a TV show or a concert or whatever, but being able to talk with another individual. Yeah.

Yeah. Something that connects you with another human being. Um, and, and it's an experiential thing, something where you're both doing the same thing, you know, and, uh, and you can chat about it and just kind of, and this is not a therapy session or anything like that. Although those have their place and, and those times when we, you know, break down and connect with our friends and loved ones in a way that's very important. That's, that's, uh, that's a different thing, but, uh, to have just that regular social interaction with, uh, people that are close to you is, is incredibly important and a really, really good gift to give to yourself.

One of the things that I've done for me, and this may not be for everybody and some people, it may take some getting used to, but I've done this for me and I've done it for years, is I have a piece of technology that I use. It is a Bluetooth earpiece. Okay.

I'm holding it up right now. Now, some people like the iPod, uh, buds, you know, that, that are Bluetooth, both ears, earbuds. Yeah. And those are fine. I don't have them.

They're a little bit more expensive than what I'm using, but I've used this for years and it allows me, I can't hold the phone and talk to people and get things done. Okay. I just can't.

No, no, no. We're multitaskers. I've got to be doing like two or three things at once. So yeah, I do the same thing and speakers. My hands have to be free and I don't like speakerphone. I hate speakerphone. And, um, and so I, I, I did this and I've, I've worn out at least half a dozen, if not more of these things because I'm on the phone a lot with, with a lot of things that I do.

But, um, it allows me to engage with people. They're right there with me. I talk to my parents almost every day. Uh, I, I've got, uh, my sister, my brothers, um, friends, family, pastor, you know, name it. I talk to them.

And I'll be, while you're doing dishes. Yeah. Yeah. They, they, they, in fact, they always say, I had one guy, he told me, he says, don't you ever just sit down and talk? And I'm like, no, no.

If I, why would I, why would I waste that time? So you'll always hear pots and pans. Uh, in fact, I've actually done media interviews while, while cooking dinner. I remember that I was doing a thing on, uh, you know, a national news thing and I was cooking dinner in the background, but I didn't make any apologies cause it was dinner time, but I had to do it. Yeah.

Yeah. And you just try to try to get the, uh, the Silicon whisk instead of the metal ones. But no, I found that that was incredibly helpful to me.

Um, because it allowed me to engage with people and talk with people, but I didn't just sit there and do nothing. Uh, while I did it because I can't as a caregiver, I mean, I'm doing laundry, I'm cooking, I'm cleaning, I'm, I'm ironing and you know, everything else. And, uh, I'm a good ironer, by the way, I do extreme ironing, John. Yeah. Extreme ironing. Do you like, do you go, uh, uh, this was really a thing. Like people ironing in the middle of a, an abandoned freeway or something like a, it's like it's late at night though. It was like planking or something like that.

It's 20 degrees outside and we've got snow. If I'm ironing out on my deck, that's extreme ironing, but it's, um, no, I, I, that allows me to do these things and make up the bed and just cooking dinner and doing the dishes and so forth. But it also allows me to stay connected to people.

And I was doing this long before coronavirus and it became a habit and I've got a core group of people who understand this and know that they are my conduit to a world that, you know, I would, I would not normally be able to have as a caregiver. And so that may be something that you as a caregiver might, uh, find helpful if you could get a good Bluetooth headset and do it, not one with a cord. I mean, you can get one with the cord. You have to put, you have to put the phone in your shirt pocket and that kind of thing. And I found it's better if I just have the Bluetooth and I, and I can walk away hands-free and I just leave the phone there. And then if I get a phone, uh, a call or something while the headset's on, I mean, I'm not used to it, but it'll say, Hey, call from John Butler. And I could just tell it to answer.

It'll say, I'll say answer. And, um, or in your case decline, but no, I'm just kidding. I always take your call. I, uh, I am of a certain age where it's, uh, uh, people like to rag us about this, where we don't like to, if it's a number, I don't know. I'm not picking it up. I mean, that's just, that's your day. This is what separates me from you.

If it's a number I don't know, and it's usually spam, I will take the call and I will get jocular with them. And I will, I'll do it. And I've talked to more car warranties. Fantastic. Oh yeah.

Yeah. How many, how many, how many cars do I have? Well, I've got this, uh, bicycle. I told him, I told him, no, I told him when they called about my extended car warranty, you know, I said, they said, do you have the car in your possession?

I said, well, not technically it's, it's been impounded, but those are not my drugs. And I just, I just kept going and I, and the guy was like, do you have another car? And I said, well, it's an older model.

He did after 2004. And I said, yeah. I said, it's a hearse.

It's got 125,000 miles, but they're really easy miles. And this is hopefully the caregiver. John and I are having a good time. Merry Christmas. We hope you're having a great time too.

Things that we can do as caregivers. We'll be right back. And we've got a great interview at the bottom of the hour.

Lots of things to talk about. Don't go away. 877-655-6755. If you want to be a part of the show, 877-655-6755. Have you ever struggled to trust God when lousy things happen to you? I'm Gracie Rosenberger. And in 1983, I experienced a horrific car accident leading to 80 surgeries and both legs amputated. I questioned why God allowed something so brutal to happen to me.

But over time, my questions changed and I discovered courage to trust God. That understanding, along with an appreciation for quality prosthetic limbs, led me to establish Standing with Hope. For more than a dozen years, we've been working with the government of Ghana and West Africa, equipping and training local workers to build and maintain quality prosthetic limbs for their own people. On a regular basis, we purchase and ship equipment and supplies.

And with the help of inmates in a Tennessee prison, we also recycle parts from donated limbs. All of this is to point others to Christ, the source of my hope and strength. Please visit standingwithhope.com to learn more and participate in lifting others up. That's standingwithhope.com. I'm Gracie, and I am standing with hope. Welcome back to Hope for the Caregiver. I am Peter Rosenberger, and that is Gracie from her CD Resilient.

It's still time. I think we can get this to you in time. If you want a copy of that to put in a stocking for someone or for yourself, it's a great CD. And you can go out to hopeforthecaregiver.com. Just click on the donate button, whatever's on your mind to donate to this work that we're doing in this ministry. We'll send you a copy of her CD as our gift to you, and I think you'll enjoy it immensely.

Here's a programming note. You can go also to our podcast for other episodes, if this is the first episode that you've heard. And I had a wonderful interview, Jon, this week with Kathie Lee Gifford. Oh, yeah.

I didn't get to ask about that yet. Well, we talked about 30 minutes, and I've known Kathie Lee for some time. And when I heard about her new book, and it's called It's Never Too Late. And I really liked the title of it. I thought, you know, a lot of people think that a lot of caregivers think this, that their life is over, that this is, you know, their life is forfeit for the person they're taking care of and they're sacrificing their dreams and aspirations and desires on the altar of caregiving. And I firmly disagree with that. I think that we can live a life of great meaning and purpose.

It may be different, and it certainly will not meet all of our expectations and things that we think it should be, but that doesn't mean it has to be bad and it can't be fulfilling. And she talked about a lot of things in this, and it was, we talked about forgiveness. It's never too late to extend forgiveness.

And some people think, well, they've already passed away. But you can still forgive. Forgiveness is for your benefit as well. It's taking your hands off of someone else's throat and leaving that to, go ahead. No, well, we talk about this an awful lot, and this really fundamentally changed how I thought about forgiveness when we started doing this, you know, years and years ago. Because, well, growing up Catholic will give you an odd perception of forgiveness. We're going to put that right here and then we're just going to walk away and nobody's going to get hurt.

Nobody's going to get hurt. Yeah, exactly, exactly. But the idea that it, and I kind of put the emphasis on this more on the individual doing the forgiving these days, like it really, for me, the act is way more about, you know, releasing yourself from this burden of rage or of blame or whatever than it is about even telling the other person that they're forgiven.

Yeah, I don't even know that you have to. If they're not asking, you can forgive them without them asking. You know, I look at Jesus on the cross. He said, Father, forgive them for they don't know what they're doing.

I mean, he forgave them without, you know, us asking. But I think what one person described this, see if this resonates with you, is that basically when you are walking in unforgiveness, you're carrying around a bag of bricks. Oh yeah. And that thing gets heavy and it hurts. It hurts you.

Put it down. Let it go. It doesn't matter if you're guilty or the one who feels that someone else is guilty. Guilt is still being experienced by both of you in some way.

And guilt is kind of like a sack of bricks, you know, and sometimes you just got to set that down. And it doesn't mean that it doesn't matter. Exactly. The wounds matter.

They really do. It just means that you're not going to make yourself judge, jury, and executioner. Exactly. And you're going to walk away from this.

That's a hard job. Yeah, it is. And it's just, you know, it's just, you're going to walk away and it's just, it's just a different way of looking at it instead of saying, well, I forgive you and forget and it doesn't matter. Yeah, it does matter. It matters so much that I'm going to release this to God and let him deal with it and not me.

Because he's better equipped to do this. And so that's something I just felt like, particularly this time of year, this is a good time of year to take some inventory. We'll talk about that next week on the show as well. But these are things that Kathie Lee and I talked about in our interview and I would recommend you getting it and sharing because she had to walk through some public things of forgiveness with Frank.

And she talks about it on the show and I've had to go through my own journey with these sort of things on the receiving end of forgiveness. And so, you know, this is an important part of our growth in our journey as caregivers. The goal is to not live incident free.

OK, we're not going to, that's an unrealistic goal. But the goal is to live, to deal with it as it comes and deal with it straight up as best as we can and make amends quickly when we have to. But understand that we don't have to be the police for everything. We don't have to make everything right because some things aren't just going to be made right.

And I look at these, I hate to say this, help me temper it when it comes out, John, because you're a good filter for me on this. But I look at sometimes when there are such horrifically violent crimes and the family, like the next day, the family's like, we forgive them, that kind of stuff. And I'm thinking, are we really plumbing that, you know, and I think forgiveness, we need to give it the respect, the trauma, the respect that it deserves.

And I hear you on that. It just somehow it just seems to me that we tend to quickly rush into that without just letting it breathe for a minute and recognize the magnitude of the wound and then maybe we, you know, you and I did a whole show one time on the word thank you. Where we, or no, sorry, I'm sorry, the word sorry.

And how to apologize without saying sorry. Right. That's because, you know, that's the same thing with forgiveness. Maybe we could learn to use to forgive without saying the word forgive. Right.

Okay. Yeah, I like where you're going with this, because, like, in the scenario that you gave where, you know, there's horrific crime and the family says we forgive you a little bit of that is, I mean, it's an artificial situation because they're in this horrific broadcast sort of situation where they, you know, it's a little bit performative by its very nature you can't separate them from that, because what they say in their, in their, in their inner hearts and minds and when they're at home is probably something a little bit different. But I feel like they're just, they're promoting the idea of, of, you know, being a decent person, even in the midst of some, some terrible stuff that I respect that. Yeah, I do.

And I respect that as well. That being said, they're still not doing the thing that you mentioned which is really important to that gets lost the idea of sitting with the trauma and and working through it in a way, because like the day after you're probably still just numb as all get out about something like that. And, yeah, it takes time, and maybe we can, you know, that's something, and you and I will spend more time on that. You and I will spend more time on this because this has been a recurring theme one of the things we do on the show is not spend a lot of time, caregiving, talking about caregiving tasks, but really dealing with the inside out. Once your heart is in a little bit more stable and calmer place, then your wallet your relationships your job your health your everything has a fair shot. But if your heart is a train wreck and if it's filled with resentment or fear or despair.

It's mighty hard to make good decisions in other areas as well. You know, and that's that's kind of our thought. Well, these are some things to give yourself for this year and we'll be right back we got to go to the break. This is hopefully caregiver hopefully caregiver.com 877-655-6755 we'll be right back.

Hey, this is Peter Rosenberger. Have you ever helped somebody walk for the first time? I've had that privilege many times through our organization standing with hope when my wife Gracie gave up both of her legs following this horrible wreck that she had as a teenager, and she tried to save them for years.

And if it just wouldn't work out and finally she relinquished them and thought wow, this is it. I mean, I don't have any legs anymore. What can God do with that? And then she had this vision for using prosthetic limbs as a means of sharing the gospel to put legs on her fellow amputees and that's what we've been doing. Now since 2005 with standing with hope we work in the West African country of Ghana and you can be a part of that through supplies through supporting team members through supporting the work that we're doing over there. You could designate a limb.

There's all kinds of ways that you could be a part of giving the gift that keeps on walking at standingwithhope.com would you take a moment to go out to standingwithhope.com and see how you can give they go walking and leaping and praising God. You could be a part of that at standingwithhope.com as a caregiver think about all the legal documents you need power of attorney a will living wills and so many more then think about such things as disputes about medical bills. What if instead of shelling out hefty fees for a few days of legal help you paid a monthly membership and got a law firm for life. Well we're taking legal representation and making some revisions in the form of accessible affordable full service coverage. Finally you can live life knowing you have a lawyer in your back pocket who at the same time isn't emptying it. It's called legal shield and it's practical affordable and a must for the family caregiver visit caregiver legal.com that's caregiver legal.com isn't it about time someone started advocating for you.

Visit caregiver legal.com www.caregiverlegal.com an independent associate. Have you ever struggled to trust God when lousy things happen to you. I'm Gracie Rosenberger and in 1983 I experienced a horrific car accident leading to 80 surgeries and both legs amputated. I questioned why God allowed something so brutal to happen to me, but over time my questions changed and I discovered courage to trust God that understanding, along with an appreciation for quality prosthetic limbs led me to establish standing with hope for more than a dozen years. I've been working with the government of Ghana and West Africa, equipping and training local workers to build and maintain quality prosthetic limbs for their own people on a regular basis we purchase and ship equipment and supplies, and with the help of inmates in a Tennessee prison.

We recycle parts from donated limbs, all of this is to point others to Christ, the source of my hope and strength, please visit standingwithhope.com to learn more and participate in lifting others up that standingwithhope.com I'm Gracie, and I am standing with hope. I love Christmas music. It says I'm the only guy he engineers for that has his own keyboard in the studio. Oh yeah.

Welcome back to Hope for the Caregiver this little Christmas music their little travel. Well, I do got a quick question though you got that running through a border is that coming through the microphone. That's actually coming to the board.

Okay, okay. I hope it sounds like it's coming to the board now it sounds like. Well, I had there was a little bit of reverb on it so I didn't know if that was the keyboard or what was going on so you know a little bit of reverb on the keyboard. But I love doing that I love having having the ability to play a little bit I love Christmas music.

I played this morning at church I did the music little church out here where we go and, and Oh john I was so excited, I did. We live in this really tiny cabin. Prove it while we're, while we try to eat a large pizza and had to do it outside. As we build or buy whatever. And I have a beautiful grand piano that was a family heirloom from from Gracie's aunt, and we can't have it in our cabin.

We just don't have the room. So, I serve as a music minister is this little church down here in the valley and so that's where I keep the piano and, and I, and it sounds just lovely down there and I got it all nice and covered up but I had it tuned yesterday. Pretty regularly just simply because it gets the weather changes so much and we had the power went out for about 20 hours down in the valley was in fact this whole valley. A while back and it got really cold in some of the strings we have are new, and those strings get, you know, out of tune. And and so I was sitting there this morning that was just a brand new tune piano, which I love, by the way, there's something about that and I'm on this well tempered style here.

Yes, indeed. I just watched a documentary about Bach, by the way, before I came on the show. But it's okay I'm with you I'm tracking baby I'm there with you I'm hanging with you. But I sat down and I started playing Christmas music and, and, and I love that and I, I throw in chords that are not necessarily I get thrown out as a lot of churches for some of these chords, you know, like a glow. You know that song angels we have heard on her.

Well, you know, it's like those are not normal. No, I love how many. How many syllables does Gloria have if you ask a Catholic it's 18. But I, but I love playing those those a wonderful carols. I mean, those are just, I just love throwing in extra chords there that you're not normally hearing, and I had a buddy of mine, used to. He's wonderful player and we were when we were in Nashville music school together and he was played at a pretty good size church there in Nashville, and he was throwing a lot of those major seven chords and things like that. And the pastor pulled him this back in the 80s the pastor pulled him back in his office after church and just reamed him out for playing those barroom chords, and it really, really hurt his heart and I was like, Yeah, dude, don't, don't tell me a major seven is not a sanctified chord because it is. Yeah, and I'll even bet that I'll play a flat nine cord, you know, let's talk to David.

All right, and I don't know what he was. I don't know what he was playing on that thing but it you know it just Martin Luther said that next to the word of God music is the most important thing it elevates the soul and I, I, you know, I love the music of the season right now and I love playing just anything and this Christmas and when people ask for request for me to play stuff I love to do it so it's just a treat and then bonus upon bonus. I get to hear Gracie sing it so that's even better. There you go, and she does she does a version of Mary Did you know that I'll just break your heart. Just break your heart, and it is so beautiful and so, and we always have a white Christmas out here. And, oh yes, it's a well she she has sung me Happy Birthday before.

Yes, and she'll do it again. Are you are you are you into astronomy at all. Oh, absolutely. I, I still have my telescope from when I was a kid it was a birthday present from my uncle Steve.

When I was about seven or so it doesn't work anymore, but I love astronomy absolutely. That's going to happen next week. You can't spring this on me late in the show. All right. Well, you know, I know but you know what's happening next week don't you. Well, we're right in the middle of the Jupiter Saturn convergence. Yes. So, yeah, yeah, yeah, and I'm just hoping we have a clear night because out here.

Oh yeah, Gracie and I in our in it. And if you go out to my Facebook page and I'll try to put it on hope for the caregivers Facebook page, you'll see the view I had this morning from our bedroom window, we have a big picture window, and we have a 30 mile view from our bedroom window. And on a clear day you could see literally 30 miles, and it's just gorgeous and I saw the sunrise morning but at night on a clear night, I could just lay in bed and just, it's like, it's like sleeping in a planetarium. So I'm really strange for those of you who have been in the city your entire life, being out in a place where there is very little light pollution like Montana. Yeah, it's named a big sky country, you know, for for a reason.

Well, but I'm hoping I don't know what the weather is going to be like when that when Saturn and Jupiter align but it hasn't been this way since like 1200 something. Yeah, it's this they appear as one singular object, and and they're pretty bright in the sky anyway. People don't realize how bright like Mars is or, you know, all these, I could see on a clear night out here I could see Mars, you could see the red it literally is the red planet.

Absolutely, with the naked eye, not with the telescope. No, yeah, and that's that's about the one thing I can see Mars and Venus are about the one or two things I can see besides the moon, and like maybe Vega or something like that. And I'm not like in the middle of the city but I can still see it and it was right near the moon for a couple of months this year it was really really pretty, it was just gorgeous. So yeah, if, if you're out in the area where there's not a lot of light pollution I hope you'll get to see this, I'm hoping that the weather be clear that we won't have overcast guys because it is their times john when I walk outside at night. And it catches my breath, the stars, I mean I feel like I can reach up and touch them. And we're a long ways away from a streetlight. You know, it is a, it is a beautiful place Hey Peter.

That's a great gift to give yourself. It is, I just wish I knew more about astronomy, like you do, you can name. Well yeah we'll get more I can get more for a long time about that. But with that's another time but yeah you can't spring, I look at the constellation. Well, you know we rehearsed this, but no I look at the constellations I can see that you know you can see in the Milky Way.

From here. Oh john, you got to come out here, we just got north that you, you are probably going to get to see some, some northern lights at some point, we, there are times, there are times, yeah, there are times. Well listen we digress from caregiving but I hope at least lighten your heart it's something you know we're caregivers, we live life we don't just have to live in the zone of caregiving all the time we are full human beings who can laugh, cut up, look at the stars, and, and play the piano and wish each other Merry Christmas and sing about joy and the love of God.

When I in awesome wonder, consider all the worlds our hands have made, then sings my soul and that's the whole point of this. Hey, we got to go john as always, you're a delight. Back at you Peter, Merry Christmas. Merry Christmas, we'll see you next week. This is Peter Rosenberger, hopeforthecaregiver.com