WELCOME 2020! Hello Friends and Welcome 2020! I am so excited for this New Year and all its new possibilities. This January issue of CAREGIVER Magazine is about crafting and purposefully designing your best life at whatever stage of life you are in. Whether, you are young and healthy or facing incredible health struggles. I challenge you to live each day to its fullest! Make a priority list of family and friends you want to honor and find ways in 2020 to love, cherish and strengthen your relationship with them. Make lasting memories. Participate in activities that matter. Get outside, enjoy sunshine and the beauty of nature. Engage in meaningful conversation with eye contact and really communicate - without devices being a distraction. Be inspired to try new things and meet new people. Take better care of yourself physically, emotionally and spiritually. I am not one for New Year’s Resolutions, but I will throw down a challenge to myself because of my competitive nature. Resolutions are meant to be broken but challenges are meant to be achieved! I will continue my healthy eating habits I implemented in 2018 and continue to be more active. It is common in our society to work on the physical aspects of aging and health but culturally we shy away from emotional and spiritual healing and growth. I shared a little last month on how emotionally difficult the 2019 Holiday season was for me. Our Scariest Things event at the end of October was such a wonderful learning event. As I thought back on all the struggles and challenges my family faced as my parents got sick, I wanted to provide information to you all to be able to be better prepared for end of life decisions. To take four years of my personal caregiving experiences and condense those memories into a five-hour window of internal review - as each of our speakers spoke on their tough topics - then to share so publicly these stories I had not thought about (much less vocalized) in years! Well, it stirred up a lot of grief and emotional pain that, in 2020, I will be working through. I chose to be transparent with this because we tend to avoid dealing with emotional health issues. To be whole and truly happy, I need to take this seriously. I have begun seeing a counselor that is helping me compartmentalize my emotions and work through them. I know I am not alone. I challenge you, if you are in an emotional place of pain or grief and you feel you need help, please seek it out. I want to be the best person I can be in 2020 and I am up to the challenge. Only you know if this is a journey you need to take for yourself but you won’t be alone. Each month through our pages of CAREGIVER Magazine, the staff and I will extend to you a big warm hug and our encouraging words that we hope continue to support you on your caregiving journey in 2020. May God forever bless you and keep you. 6
LaShanya L. Nash
P.O. Box 721673 Oklahoma City, OK 73172
EDITORIAL Editor-In-Chief LASHANYA NASH Managing Editor MICHAEL E. BROWNING Art Director ANGELA BLAKE Writers MICHAEL E. BROWNING DENISE GLAVAN ROBBIE LAMBERSON VICKI MUIR JOHN SPIVEY LISA SYDNOR Photographers EMBERLEE NASH JESSIE NEWELL WYNELLE RECORD Community Outreach LISA SYDNOR Social Media Coordinator WYNELLE RECORD Layout WISE MARKETING ADVERTISING Publisher LASHANYA NASH 405.532.6057 l.nash@caregiveroklahoma.com
Business Development MICHAEL E. BROWNING 405.906.5405 m.browning@caregiveroklahoma.com
Account Executive ANGELA BLAKE 985.662.6581 a.blake@caregiveroklahoma.com
Accounting ANDREA O’HAIR
Digital Copy: CaregiverOklahoma.com
