Hello, sun listeners. This is Eric Nutting, the growth coach of St. Petersburg, Florida, and founder of the Sage Approach for another episode of the SunLeaders podcast, recording right here out of Name and Creatives Studios. My buddy Jordan, as always, is running the sound for us, going to make us sound good.

And today will be a little bit different than what I’ve done in my past. I can’t remember how many shows now, but I have my sister here with me and I’ll allow her to introduce herself in just a moment. But I wanted to kind of have Karen on and talk about some old times as we are getting older, kind of where she sees.

Sees the future headed. And we don’t exactly know where this conversation is going to go, but I think there’s going to be some reminiscing. That’s my thought process.

Just so you know, Karen, we usually tie these and you’ve listened to a couple episodes, right? We usually tie these to some form of leadership which isn’t necessary for us today. You are now an official sun leader just by being here. Welcome.

Congratulations. There’s hazing that happens in about 30 minutes, but right now we’re just gonna have a conversation. So, Karen, welcome.

Introduce yourself however you want these people to know you. I’m Karen Nutting and I’m Eric’s sister. That’s me.

Yeah, that’s you. Yeah. Not the sister part.

Go on. Well, I beg to differ. No, seriously, though.

I moved here back in. Let me see, what year was that? I moved here. Well, I think not quite 10 years yet, right? Yeah, it’s been eight years.

That’s how you. Okay, eight years. Yeah, I decided to.

Decided to move closer to my brother. That’s me. That’s you? That’s Eric still.

Yes. And you moved from where? Seattle, Washington. Okay, let’s talk about Seattle, Washington, a little bit.

What? And it’s not exactly Seattle. Right. We grew up in the suburbs, so Bellevue.

Once upon a time, the suburb. And now it’s kind of its own. Yeah, you know, city, isn’t it? Yeah, it really is, actually.

And we watch the city grow, which is really a lot like St. Pete, where you are right now. That’s what’s happening, that kind of growth. But what do you remember about Bellevue? It was a nice area and it was fairly quiet and everything like that, you know, suburbs of Seattle, I think a good place, you know, for growing up and, you know, for education, you know, but we watched the whole city be built.

Yes, we did. Once upon a time. It was just low rises and then there was the shopping center.

Right. Bellevue Square. Yep.

And then we just watched building by building pop up. Yes. And then that just kind of ruined everything.

So you think it ruined it? I loved the. I used to think I was going to own the whole city. I found it magical.

It’s too big now, I would say. The growth is unhealthy and rents are too high and all of that. In fact, that’s one of the reasons Diane and I moved, because we couldn’t afford it.

Yeah, but you enjoyed life back there in Bellevue. I did. I really did, yes.

And why did you end up moving all the way across the country other than me? Like, what, what, what. What prompted that thought process? I guess maybe I just wanted to see what a change was like, because I’d always been in. In Washington State.

Washington State, Bellevue, you know, the suburb. And, you know, I just decided, really, honestly, that once you had moved, I wanted to be close to family because we lost our parents. They were already passed.

Right. And we didn’t really have a big family. No.

We’re both adopted. Yes. Right.

Yes, we are. What does the thought process of adoption mean to you as we think about a family unit? I love it. You know, I. Yeah.

So I’m two years older than Narak. That’s true. So.

And I remember, you know, because we’re both adopted, that I remember being in this building and our parents were there, and even our parents said that I picked out my brother. Right. Because there’s, like, you know, 26 different babies on aisle 17 in a blue light special.

And they said, hey, is that how it works? Yeah. Yeah. Come on down to the adoption center.

Hot dogs being sold on the streets and big sales going on. Baby boys here. The next baby on the.

On the. So you go down through these aisles of babies and you go, no, not that one. Not the way that one.

Bring that one out. Yeah, No, I just. Because our mom said that, honestly, that I picked out my brother, that’s probably to empower you, to make you feel good about yourself.

Yeah. At the age of three. That’s right.

Three. Something like that. Okay, so you are behind this idea of adoption.

And as we think about a family unit, do you think because you have two girls of your own. Yes. Talk to me about what you believe family to be.

Well, it’s not. Doesn’t. For one thing, it doesn’t have to be blood.

You know, it’s like, we are family. I’ve got all my sisters with me. No.

Okay, go on. Oh, goodness, no. But family.

I Mean, it just, you know, I have two daughters, two beautiful daughters. And now I have two. So actually a big day for you today.

Right, because you were just gonna say you have two grandsons. Grandsons. And the oldest one is.

He is. I think he’s turning nine. He’s eight.

Turning nine. That’s right. When does he turn nine? On the.

Today. The third. Today’s birthday.

His birthday today. Yes. Now.

So that’s a big day. It is. It definitely is.

Right? Yeah. And the girls are where now? Brittany is in the suburbs of kind of Seattle. She’s in Washington state, a little bit north.

Right. And she just moved this weekend. Yeah.

For a bigger place. And then Caitlin, my youngest daughter, she is. So I have to stop and think how old she is, but she is.

You know, I honestly don’t keep up with the ages of my kids. Okay. So I don’t feel.

I know Alec is 30 and everybody and the twins are turning 21. I know that just because it’s a milestone, but beyond that, I don’t really keep up. Yeah.

I don’t even. Honestly, I don’t even know my age all the time. I get to a certain age and then I maybe if I get to where there’s six months before my birthday, I somehow in my mind leap ahead a year and then I get confused if I’m going to be, you know, like I’m 58 now.

I just had a birthday, so I remember that. And I know you just turned 60 in June. I know that because that’s a milestone, but that’s about it.

Yeah. So, okay, so you have two beautiful daughters, two beautiful grandsons, and this rich history back in Bellevue, Washington, where you spent most of your life. What did you do for a career or what do you currently do for a career? Well, I’m not.

I don’t have a career anymore, but I did. I was a nurse for 30. I believe it’s 33 years.

Long time. Yes. And then unfortunately, I was diagnosed with some memory issues.

Memory issues. What’s the official diagnosis? Do you remember? Oh, let me see. It was mild early onset dementia.

Yeah. And that’s been life changing, hasn’t it? Very. But you had this amazing career in nursing.

You had a passion for it. I did. Loved it.

You just kind of. You found it. It found you.

And it was a huge significant portion of you. Yes. So as we think about moving on now with memory challenges, what is it like to leave nursing behind really hard? Yeah.

I loved being a nurse and I. I feel that I was a good Nurse. And. And I was.

Had been told, you know, that I was a good nurse. Patients loved you. The staff loved you.

You loved in. You love interacting with people. I do.

And I have to think that’s one of the greatest challenges now. Right. You used to always get out with people and now.

Yeah, Life is like, what, being at home? I kind of sequester myself, if that’s the term, isn’t it? Well, you don’t drive anymore. Yes. So that makes it tricky.

Yeah, that’s right. Because it was gonna be dangerous for me to drive, so. Yes.

Yeah. I couldn’t, you know, I don’t have a car. I couldn’t drive anymore.

Had a bus pass for a while. Yes, I did. That’s right.

Yeah. But you don’t know about that. There’s been a weird shift recently, hasn’t there, where you don’t necessarily feel safe in your environment.

Yes, you’re right. And I still can’t wrap my brain around why. I just.

I don’t know what it is because I never was fearful of things, and now I have this overwhelming fear, anxiety, whatever you want to call it. And it’s very. Sometimes it’s very debilitating where I won’t.

It actually has a physical effect on you. You get nauseous. Yes, that’s right.

Yes, I do. And I have never been like that. And I feel like I’ve lost myself, you know.

You’ve lost yourself. You’ve lost parts of you that you were comfortable with that you knew really well. Yes.

And now, looking ahead, how do you envision life moving forward for you? Oh, gosh, that’s. You know, I. That’s a really good question because I’m still so. It’s still kind of so new.

It’s not brand new. How new do you think it is? Well, let me see. I think it was in.

When did I start kind of losing it? About 2000. I think it was in the early 2000s. I was still working as a nurse, obviously, at that time.

And then when they told me, yeah, I couldn’t work anymore, you actually discovered for you, you weren’t remembering things that you. You found to be important things on the charts, that sort of stuff. Right.

You were looking at stuff you thought, didn’t it? Weren’t you the one that identified at first, or did somebody else. I think somebody else did, if I’m not mistaken. But.

Well, so I want to be careful not to answer for you, but I also don’t want to leave you in a area of getting frustrated and having Anxiety. So if I recall, I think it’s been about two years now. Yeah.

Yep. Yes. Probably about two years.

Two years since diagnosis or discovery, which in theory means maybe a little bit before that, more than likely. Yeah. Yeah.

And it’s been a pretty quick shift in the whole scheme of things. Okay. Yes.

So let’s talk about great memories. What do you think? If you could think of, like, your best memories, what would be like three of your best memories? Don’t say throwing a hand rake at me and hitting me above the eye. That should not be a good memory.

That should be one of your worst memories. That was gonna be the first one. The first and best.

That’s the worst ever. You just ruined it for me. Yeah, I didn’t run fast enough.

Okay, so great memories. Three great, great memories. Three great memories.

Okay. Well, for me, you know, the trips we would take to Disney, those had a big impact. Yes, to Disneyland.

So, listeners, we lived up in Bellevue, Washington, as Karen told you. And for us, vacation should be kind of every other year or every three years. And we would drive down to Anaheim to Disneyland.

Or to Oregon Caves. Or to Oregon Caves. Yeah.

Yes. Cave Junction. Yes.

All right, so go on. And some more memories. Well, let’s talk about Disney a little bit.

Disney’s been a big part of your life. Yes, it has. So let’s talk about Disney.

That’s my happy place. Right. It’s the happiest place on earth.

It is. So you’ve been to Disneyland and now Disney World. Yes.

Which do you prefer? Probably I’m partial to Disneyland. Just because all those memories when, you know, with us as a family, you know, those are really, you know, neat moments, you know, sometimes, you know, like, you know where I’m going at this? I’m not sure. The Pirates of the Caribbean rock.

Oh, goodness gracious. Yes, I do remember that. Yep.

When daddy had sat in the boat, Pirates of the Caribbean got out of there and had a big wet spot. That’s right. Rear end.

And we had to walk behind him. Yeah. You know, so his pants could dry off.

So Disney was a big deal because we were together as a family. And you enjoyed that experience. Right.

And it was a lot of it was about. Was really about you, wasn’t it? Our parents gave you so much attention when you would, like, interact with the characters and stuff, right? Oh, yeah. Cause I mean, you were really, like, into it and running up to them.

Gung ho. Yeah, kind of. And I was more standoffish.

I was afraid of all of them. Well, yeah. Cause you were Younger.

I’m still afraid of them. They’re very big, and it’s very scary. Very hairy.

Troubles me still to this day. I’ll pay for your therapy. So here we are, 60 and 58, and Disney still holds a big place in your life because of those childhood experiences that we had together as a family.

Yes. Okay, so there’s Disney one. I challenged you for three.

What’s another one? What’s another great memory? Well, I already talked about the memory of when we went, you know, and when you picked me out on aisle 17 for the blood special. Okay, so I think I said aisle 17. I can’t remember.

So that’s two memories. Give me one more. One more memory.

Oh. Being with my very, very best friend, and I’ve always loved Rod Stewart, and I met up with my friend Debbie, who lives in Canada, but, you know, we met up in Canada for the concert. And I’d always loved him since, like, 1979 or something like that, and what happened that day.

But amazing things have always happened when my best friend and I, Debbie and I had been together. And, um, I’ll be darned if we didn’t. You know, we were there in the morning, we were going to get coffee and stuff.

And who walks up But Rod Stewart. Mr. Do you think I’m sexy? Yes. And I still think he is.

He’s like, 79 now. Yes. Okay.

I’m sure there’s a point to your story. He’s still performing, still doing his thing. Yes, he is.

And the amazing thing was. Well, first, that was as what had always been, my wish is to meet Rod Stewart or no, visit every Disney park in the world. Right.

That was a goal. And meet Rod Stewart. And I finally stopped saying meet Rod Stewart because that was the one thing that was never going to happen.

And look what happened. Look what happened. You have a picture with him? I do, yes.

It’s on your Facebook page. Yes, yes. And you said, cause sometimes these stories don’t go well when somebody meets somebody that they’ve always.

But this has a happy ending. Yes. He was a very nice man.

He had his cup of Starbucks. And I said, excuse me, may I get a picture with you? And he did. And he was very nice.

He was very gracious. He could have been one of those that was like, get away. You know, get out of here.

You know, I’m trying to have my morning coffee or whatever. And. But he was so nice.

He was such a nice person. It’s. It was nice to have good experiences with a person you have admired.

For, you know, since I was. What I was about wasn’t about. Well, if you said 70.

13. Was I 13? You’re born in 64. And you said 77.

Maybe something like that. Yeah, yeah. And so it’s 13ish.

14ish. Because our mom went with us way back. Well, you were gallivancing around all of Puget Sound seeing concerts.

True. That is true. And sometimes I got dragged with you, or I had to.

The younger brother had to act as your chaperone or your bodyguard. That’s the role they asked me to play. Oh, my goodness.

I know, it’s so fun. And you and I were just talking about. Well, first of all, let’s go back to.

Well, the first bodyguard job I had was when we went and saw Kiss together. But let’s talk about Rod Stewart a little bit more. How many times have you seen Rod Stewart? Gosh, first time was.

Oh, man, it has. We gotta be past a dozen, right? Yeah, I was gonna say at least 20 times. Right.

It’s gotta be so a. Definitely with all Debbie and you and. And it just.

Yeah, I’m sure. So do you believe in, like, the universe, putting him in your path? Karma? What’s your belief system on this? Or is it. This is definite bucket list sort of thing? So how did this happen? You mean in my how it happened? Yeah.

Yeah, I just think. Well, too. Or were you just tenacious and you put yourself in the right place? Well, that day when I saw him, when he had the coffee, you know.

Were you stalking him? Are you a stalker? Maybe. So what do you think? I just. Well, you know, both mommy and daddy were gone, and mommy loved Rod Stewart, and I really believe that they had something to do with it.

That talks to your belief system, doesn’t it? Yes. You still believe they have a little bit of influence in your life currently, don’t you? Brings you comfort. Yes, it does.

Right. In fact, when mom passed, you believe she was in the house watching you, taking care of you, trying to communicate with you? I know Brittany talks about it, but you don’t remember any of that. Brittany for sure thinks that she was visited really by Mom.

Yeah. As she speaks about it every so often. They had a tight, tight bond.

Well, she was a major caretaker. Let’s talk about that a little bit. So you have two girls, you were married for about three years at the most, I think.

And the rest of the time you’ve pretty much been on your own with some really great friendships, some really great relationships. Yes. But at this point in your life, 60 with maybe the beginning or mid stages of memory challenges.

Do you think this would be easier with a partner by your side, or is it easier without a partner by your side? I think it would be easier with a partner by my side who was very supportive, but I also wouldn’t want to be a burden. You worry about being a burden a lot, right? Kind of speaks to that caretaker sort of philosophy you have, which a lot of nurses have. Yeah, I think you’re right.

And what’s interesting is we think about, you know, that question, would you rather be have somebody next to you? We don’t get to write the script. Even if we did have a special someone in our life, we don’t know who goes first or what challenges happen first or any of that stuff. So it’s kind of.

I tell people, since I do this coaching stuff, I say all plans are perfect on paper. But you’re absolutely right. It’s the actual living it that’s a little tricky indeed.

All right, so we’ve got Rodster, we have Disney, we have Picking out me on aisle 17. What are your major? Like, what’s the scariest thing you can remember? Do you have any scary memories? Anything that, like, for me, I come up to things, I go, man, I’m lucky to have survived that. That was crazy.

Do you have any of those sort of memories, Will? I know I took chances. Oh, dear. Like what? Well, you know, at some point, I experimented with drugs.

Okay, not for a long time, but I did that. You know, who knows what could have happened? Okay. You know, I had a drunk driving incident a few years ago, and that was life changing.

Yes, it was, because I loved to drink, right? Beer or, you know, pretty much beer. But I. Brittany one day said, mom, if you don’t get. Because she had had Isaiah at that time he was born.

If you don’t. She says, if you don’t stop drinking, I have no choice but to distance myself or distance you from you and my children. And I stopped right then and there.

And I’ve been sober for well over three years. It’s a big deal, if not more. And in fact, you went to a rehab center.

That was life changing for you. Yes, it was. And what’s interesting, we say three years and we say the memory losses, maybe we discovered around two years.

There’s not necessarily. But there’s kind of a connection there in a way, at least in timing, isn’t there? Yes. And I wonder if.

And that makes me sad too, because I think, you know, here I get sober and now this happens. So was that from that or is it just coincidental? I’m not smart enough to know. I don’t know.

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Contact us today infoamencreative.com But I do know that you and I part ways a lot on philosophies because I’m always like, you know, the glass is absolutely 100% full, not even half full. The glass is 100% full for me all the time. And you maybe don’t have that philosophy.

Do you think that’s accurate? I mean, you’re not a grumpy grump. But if I try to encourage you to maybe frame things in a different way, it doesn’t always make sense to you. No, sometimes it doesn’t.

Right. Which is fine. I mean, who am I? I’m just a guy, you know? But as we think about what’s forward for you, that’s challenging because we’ve already said you need people, you got to be out with people, and yet you feel like you don’t have the ability to be out with people.

Is there a solution to that? I don’t know, because I never used to be scared of anything, you know. You’re not scared of people? No, but I’m not scared of people. But I’m scared of maybe situations like.

Like what? Being. Being alone now in the house. Right, right, right.

In fact, you’ve moved in with us. Yes, right. Which I really appreciate so much.

We’re friendly most of the time. Yes, indeed. But that’s a great point.

You were in your Own house. And it just got to be too much. It’s like it gets dark at night and the windows are there.

And that caused a lot of anxiety for you. It did, yes. And I was never scared of things like that.

Never. And it was. I remember one day it was evening, and it was dark, so it was dark out, you know, and then I don’t think I may have had shades on the window, but they might have been missing something.

I don’t remember exactly what it was, but finally had to get black curtain. I had a friend who had black curtains because she worked the night shift. So she let me have them.

And after that, I became very, very frightened. Just that everything I was scared beyond it was bad, you know, And I think it’s maybe a bit of the fear of the unknown. Isn’t it connected to what I can and can’t remember? And if I can’t remember something, maybe I don’t know what’s ahead of me based off of those recollections? Maybe.

You know that. That’s a very good point. Yes, it could be.

I don’t know for sure, but it certainly could be. But I think one thing that you and I have solved here today is you got to be around people. We got to find a way to get you interactive with humans.

So would you agree that that’s a takeaway? Yes, because I’m busy all the time. I’m always working. Diane’s always away at work.

Yeah. All the kids are out doing their kid thing, and most of my kids are out of the house now anyway, and I shouldn’t expect everybody to take care of me. So.

So that’s not really where I’m going with the conversation. The conversations. And that’s where we part ways on our philosophies.

You always look at the burden of life and what you are burdening somebody with, and I always say, what’s the solution? The solution is to be interactive, not to worry about the effect you’re having on somebody. Do you understand the difference? Yeah. So all we got to do is get out and find people somewhere or go play bingo or something, or whatever it is old people do.

Are they going to arrest me because I’m, like, just grabbing somebody on the street? No, no, no. Well, it’ll be planned and everything. So we got to get out.

We got to get out and be with humans. So we’re going to play this over and over again so we remember that. Let’s talk about life as a single mother.

What was it like because you had massoud for a few years, he was who you were married to. In fact, your full name is Karen Mohammed. Karen.

Did you retain the nutting? I, I’ll just used to. Just used Karen Mohammed to make it not so long. But what was I saying? Oh, about like, how do you identify your full name now these days? Karen Mohammed.

You are. So the nutting’s not there. It’s now it’s Karen Mohammed.

Did I take the nutting off? I didn’t think I did. I honestly, I can’t remember. You introduced yourself as Karen Nutting.

Okay. I think you still identify with Karen Mohammed even though that was only three years of life. And the girls are.

They kept the nutting name. Yes. But let’s spend a little bit of time talking about, for the most part, you were a single mom.

What’s that like? Well, it could have been a lot harder, but. But I had help. I had help at home.

And who provided that help? Mommy and daddy. Especially Mommy, you know. You know, she would babysit the girls and stuff, you know, if I was working and things like that.

Right. And so that was, that was big. And.

And it was nice for her because she loved, you know, having the girls around and everything, you know, and. But so when I think about being a single parent, I don’t think it’s something I would be good at. I needed the partnership to get through it.

I don’t think I’m enough. Because what’s interesting to me is when we’re a single parent, you have to be the mother and the father, the disciplinarian and the nurturer. And I’m not saying that the disciplinarian can’t also nurture.

They can and they have to. But to have to have both hats all the time, I think it’s tricky. I think it’s challenging.

Did you find that in your. Somewhat, you know, or especially when they get older and then they kind of want to, you know, maybe rebel a little bit. Right.

Did your girls rebel? Oh, not to a terrible degree, no. The girls are pretty. Were you a rebellious child? Oh, I. I did things I shouldn’t have done, yes.

I mean, who doesn’t? But you like to self identify as the black sheep of the family. You’ve used that a lot, I guess, because I felt like I was, you know, when I look back, that I was the black sheep, you know. You know, but nobody else thought you were.

You just identified as such. Maybe that’s because you did take chances. Maybe some of the things you did, you thought, well, most people shouldn’t be doing this, but I’m going to.

Is that maybe what it is? That could be it, you know. Yeah, that might be it. Yeah.

You know, so. But yeah, I have always kind of identified myself as the black sheep. Right.

So. Black sheep. Okay.

So do you see yourself as a conformist or non conformist? Kind of a non. I think non conformist. Yeah.

I think I am too. But I was never a crazy fella. In fact, I was.

I could never understand why mom and dad would ever be mad at me. I never did anything rowdy or raucous or. And I’m the one going out getting drunk and.

Yeah. And you know. Yeah.

But I remember I just probably had that typical teenager attitude, you know, where I thought I was always right. And I remember dad putting me up against the wall once and saying something to me and I thought, what are you doing, man? I. I don’t think I did anything to even warrant this. It’s really interesting.

It’s an interesting moment for me. Yeah. Which I’ve never done to any of my kids.

But, you know, I don’t. I really don’t second guess him. It’s what he did, and I’m fine.

Yeah. And our parents weren’t violent listeners. Our parents were not violent.

So. Yeah. Although we.

We grew up in a day where we got belts, didn’t we? Yeah. Yeah. And maybe some people still do, but I tried spanking one of the kids once and it felt so wrong, so foreign that I didn’t do it again.

I don’t think I ever took a belt to the girls, but I know I did whoop, whoop a butt with my hand, you know, but yeah, it’s. So here we are. We’ve had a single parent journey for most of our life and we have two girls who are adults and they’re out on their own one with children.

What are your hopes for the girls? What if you could. If you could script their life? What. What are the hopes from a mother’s perspective? Well, first for Brittany, the oldest, who is what now? Because I’m how old she’s going to be? 31.

31? Yes. That’s a guess. Yeah, I think so.

Could be 30. I’m not sure. Yes, 30.

31. But, you know, she’s got a good head on her shoulders. She’s sharp.

She is. She’s very intelligent and she’s got the savvy, you know, that’s the correct word, I think. Sure, I’ll take it.

And then. So your hopes for her are what I Would. Look, at one point, she said she wanted to be a nurse.

And I don’t know if she still wants to be, but. But I think she would be fantastic. She’s very intelligent.

So, Brittany, if you’re listening, be a nurse. There you go. Make your mother happy.

Okay. And Caitlin. Yeah, love Caitlin to death.

We just. Sometimes she visits you. Every Saturday, she takes you out to breakfast.

Yes, she does. Yep. Because she’s local and Brittany’s not.

And I appreciate what she does, you know, it’s so sweet, you know, and she. You know. Cause she has her own life.

So your hopes for her are what? Whatever she wants to be or do you know. You know, she’s living with her friend Sammy. Sammy.

Right. And she. That’s right.

I just remembered. She started. She.

She’s been trying to decide what she wants to do. Right. As.

As a career. Right. And because she works at this hearing aid.

Hearing aid place. Yes, hearing aid place. And she’s just not happy there.

And then. So please don’t fire her. If you’re listening, their dad, Michael, he has become quite a lovely human, hasn’t he? He’s gotten much stunts.

Not that he wasn’t always. I think it was us. We were.

I had the chance to sit with him recently. He visited Florida, and I just had the most lovely time with him. I thought he was such a.

Such a lovely human. I wish I hadn’t missed that. Actually, I regret that now because that’s been a really long relationship in your life.

Yes. One of the longest relationships in your life. I met him in 1986.

Right. And we had two daughters. Yep.

And he calls you now and checks in on you. Yeah. And he was the one that told me about the.

Oh, that. I know exactly what you’re thinking. I don’t know how long I’m going to let you wrestle with it, because this has been on your mind the last week or so.

The. The. It is.

Should I tell you. Yes, please. The shag.

Shag. Thank you. The shag, which is a kind of a community up in Washington state, because you’re thinking maybe about moving back and it’s independent living, and that’s one of the big things we’re struggling with the most right now, because whenever you bring up the shag, which has been a couple times a day for the last maybe week or so, I say, do you feel you can live independently? And your answer is either I don’t know or I’m not sure.

Yeah. Yeah, I’m scared, but, I mean, I would be alone in the house, you know, but perhaps the community there would be what you need. Maybe if they had community events and stuff.

Yeah. Because we just said you need people. Yes.

Yeah. I do get lonely. So that would be something that we’ll have to think through and think forward on.

You still have a house. We got to figure out what to do with that. Yeah.

So we have just about 10 minutes or so. And, you know, we haven’t talked about something huge in your life, which are animals. You’re an animal lover, Right.

Talk to us about animals. What role do they play in your life? Because we’ve had animals our whole life. Yep.

Mainly cats, but some dogs, too. You have a dog, so let’s talk about animals a little bit. I love my animals.

You love animals in general, but you love your animals. Yes. Right.

And I see you’re starting to get a little teary. You’re tearing up. Because this is a huge crossroads right now, isn’t it? Yes.

Because with my dog Holly, one day, because of my memory issues, I forgot to feed her. You think you forgot to feed her? She looks pretty porky to me, but go on. Or it was one of the cats or some.

I can’t remember exactly. This is where things get. Because this is more.

I’m good with things in the past, but things that are, like, in the. Just the near. Right here, Pat, what happened just a few minutes ago, that’s what you struggle with the most.

Yes. Right? Yeah. And like, yeah, I had forgotten to feed the dogs one day, and I feel like, you know, that maybe I should do what’s right for them and surrender them, because I would hate for something to happen to them because of me.

So knowing that you’re an animal lover and you have these animals right now, three cats, a dog, and you’re thinking, shoot, maybe I’m not the best person now to be taking care of them. Do you see animals in your future? Is there a way to have a relationship with pets and animals where maybe it’s not so stressful? Maybe I could. Well, I got thinking.

Maybe I could go. There’s that place in downtown Lakeland where they have. It’s like a cat place.

Yeah. There’s a cat cafe. Cat cafe.

And I could be petting cats for sure, right? Yeah. And I probably could even walk there. I can’t remember where it is exactly.

It’s a pretty good walk from our place, but we can find a way to get you there if that’s. And there’s, you know, there’s shelters and sanctuaries. And a lot of places that, you know, you can interact with pets.

That would be something I would love. In fact, you and I walked by a sign today on our way to breakfast that said something about, you know, taking care of pets and saving pets and that sort of thing. So maybe, you know, maybe we could combine those two things.

Being with people, being with animals and kind of interacting that way. I would love that, perhaps. And maybe.

Right, right. All right. So 60 years old, just starting this challenge with.

You always have to put in the number. Well, I’m 58, so to me, in six months I’ll just be 60 anyway, because I never remember how old I am. So what do you see the next 10 years being like? Given my diagnosis, I’m not entirely sure.

Right. You know, but, you know, there was this. I don’t remember if I mentioned this earlier, this study where they do, like, Infusions.

Okay. Stem cell. I don’t know what it is exactly, but infusions for people with Alzheimer’s, it doesn’t make it go away, but I think from what I gathered from it, it could maybe slow it.

Okay. But the girls don’t want me to have it because there’s a risk for a brain bleed. And sometimes at this point, I think the way this is working right now, or not working, kind of the what have I got to lose kind of thing.

Well, this is tricky, I think, when you get to be kind of having some of the challenges you’re having. Who makes decisions now? Should you be making decisions for yourself? Are you making decisions for the girls or for people you live with? Who gets to make those decisions now? Well, Britney’s my poa. Sure.

So she would be. And you’re willing to yield all of your decision making power to somebody you sign something over to? That’s what I’m asking. Like, what do you still have control of? What do you want control of? Shouldn’t you still have control over something? You know, the one thing I wish I did is this, but I. Well, this is exactly what you’re talking about.

You’re saying, yeah, there might be this study, there might be this little science project that’s out there. You know, maybe I’d like to partake in that, but the girls don’t want me to. Should you be the person who gets to decide that, or should it be your poa? Because I’m still cognizant enough, I should be able to.

Yeah, I think so. You know, and I just lost what I was gonna say. But it was.

What was it? What Was it. What was it? I just had it in my brain. Is it about the future maybe? Or about yielding control to someone? Oh, I remember someone said, well, why don’t you go back to your.

That was it. Someone said recently. I don’t know if it was you or if it was smart.

It was me. Go on. Then, you know, maybe you could go back and see if there’s anything, you know, anything else they can, you know, do or when it comes to the dementia, you know, if they, if there’s any new things that have come up.

Right. You know, I know it’s got to be overnight, but, you know, who knows? Right. You know, I think the challenge listening to you talk about this is it’s probably not something you can necessarily research on your own.

You need help with all this stuff because I can’t with this brain right now. How am I. Yeah, how can I figure that out? Right. You know, but I think what I’m getting at is you have to let your wants and your wishes be known so people can carry them out in your best interests.

That’s why we put people in charge. Right. So if you don’t articulate what it is you want, then people start making decisions for you and they might not be what you want.

Exactly. Like maybe I decide I can’t do the same or, you know, and just have like a living will or something like that. Sure.

Not to say that I’m going to go out and, you know, off myself, but, you know, but to have some. Still have control. Right.

Not. I wouldn’t necessarily be able to have the control I used to. Well, do any of us.

I mean, we’re all on a journey that kind of winds down in this body. Right. Nobody gets out of this thing in this body.

True. So, I mean, I’m 58 and there’s things I can’t do that I used to be able to do, but I’m 1,000% at peace with it. I just don’t know.

In 10 years, what else, what other things will I. Will I lose? Yeah. It’s a big eye opener, isn’t it? Yeah. But being reformed control freak, which I am, I still want to have control over my future.

And I know for me, too, I find that I, I. Well, I guess because I’ve been. It was a single mom and everything, I always had that control too, you know, like with the girls or, or just, you know, in my life, my relationships and. Right.

Yeah. I don’t, I just, I just don’t know. Well, I think it seems like it’s something that you should put a team together on and put people in place that you trust.

And then I think the number one thing that we’ve discovered is we got to get out and be with people somehow. We got to be proactive there. Yes.

And then we have to somehow put animals in our life. Now, the other thing. And then.

And then we’ll say. We’ll part ways with the audience. We’ll say goodbye.

But the one thing on your bucket list that you haven’t been able to get to is all the Disney parks, which I think is maybe, like, three more left. Is that something you’d still want to do, or do you think you’re not capable of doing it? Oh, I could do Disney in a heartbeat. I decided, though, I wasn’t going to do Hong Kong or Tokyo.

Okay. So we’re just down to Paris. Euro Disney, France.

Yes. You know, so that would be a great thing for you. Yes.

And then my bestie could go with me, my friend Debbie. Yeah, that’d be great. Yep.

Okay. Well, it’s been a delightful conversation. Is there anything else you want? The listeners or the girls? And this is one of the main reasons that I did this, so, you know, they would have this to listen to.

Is there anything else you want them to know? Well, first, I want to thank you for giving me this opportunity. Yeah, it’ll be nice. And let the girls know how much I love them and how much I love you.

And I love you, too, and appreciate you and what you and Diane are doing. I’ll let you stay a whole nother week, and then you’re out. And then you’re out.

And then you’re out of here. You get out of here. You know, Eric.

Yes? You’re glad that you picked me out on aisle 17. Damn Skippy. I am.

I am, too. I love you. I love you, too.

And thank you for this. This was really nice. Yeah, it’s fun.

Maybe we’ll do it again. I would love that. All right.

Are you free tomorrow? All right, sun listeners, I appreciate you being here. As always, I am looking to grow this audience. So if this episode is of interest to you, I ask you to share it.

Jump on board. I’m just one of the many hosts that participate in this sharecast format. So I’ll tell you a little bit about SunLeaders.

We are a vibrant group here in St. Petersburg, Florida. You can visit us in person every first and third Friday, and you can interact with us on our Facebook page. And we also have a website.

We just really want to contribute to what’s going on here in St. Petersburg, Florida, and do something good for the world. So I appreciate you and we look forward to speaking with you next time. Sa.