A VOCABULARY BOOK REVIEW: FLY AWAY

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Fly Away is an intense romance by Kristin Hannah with the expected character development that makes Hannah a go-to author. Hannah weaves the human experiences of grief, hope, expectation, obligation, and more into a fantastic tale of love. Not only romantic love, but also a mother’s love, and the love between best friends. Fly Away is also about the promises we keep and the ones we can’t. 

In addition to Fly Away, Hannah is the author of Firefly Lane, now a Netflix series. Published in 2013 by St. Martin’s Press, Fly Away is among many titles by Hannah. Find her on Facebook or at kristinhannah.com. 

I haven’t read them all, but books by Hannah I haven’t read are on my TBR list. I love her writing, her characterization that makes me care, and her descriptions. Her plotting, twists, and turns keep me reading. I can’t comment on Hannah without pointing out the beautiful covers for most of her books, including the cover for Fly Away.

In this blog, I offer a different type of book review — one that’s combined with vocabulary building. The definitions here are for just a few words from Fly Away that I found interesting, unfamiliar, or unusual in use:

grief: noun 1. Deep sorrow, especially that caused by someone’s death. 2. Informal trouble or annoyance. 

From Fly Away: 

“Grief is a sneaky thing, always coming and going like some guest you didn’t invite and can’t turn away.”

AND

“Johnny closed his eyes. He’d worked so hard in the past few years to move past grief and fashion a new life for his family. He didn’t want to remember that terrible year, but how could he not—especially now?”

flotsam: noun. (Anglo-French flotesom, from Old French floter to float. Of Germanic origin: akin to Old English flotian to float, float ship) (circa 1607) 1. Floating wreckage of a ship or its cargo; broadly: floating debris. 2. a: a floating population (as of emigrants or castaways) b: an accumulation of miscellaneous or unimportant stuff. 

From Fly Away: 

“When she’d introduced him to her best friend, Kate Mularkey, who’d seemed paler and quieter, a bit of flotsam riding the crest of Tully’s wave, he’d barely noticed. It wasn’t until years later, when Katie dared to kiss him, that Johnny saw his future in a woman’s eyes.”

papasan chair: noun. a bowl-shaped cushioned chair often with a rattan base. 

From Fly Away: 

“His father-in-law, Bud, sat in the big papasan chair that easily held both boys when they played video games, and Sean, Kate’s younger brother, lay asleep on Will’s bed.”

de rigueur: adjective. (French)(1833) prescribed or required by fashion, etiquette, or custom: proper   

From Fly Away: 

“Her voice had that brittle sharpness that had become de rigueur since puberty. He sighed; even grief, it seemed, hadn’t softened his daughter. If anything, it had made her angrier.”

 Definitions are typically from the dictionary that comes with my Mac or Merriam Webster.

“The word is only a representation of the meaning; even at its best, writing almost always falls short of full meaning. Given that, why in God’s name would you want to make things worse by choosing a word which is only cousin to the one you really wanted to use?” ― Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft.

A VOCABULARY BOOK REVIEW: ONE TRUE LOVES

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One True Loves caught my devoted interest in the first chapter. That’s when Emma Blair’s husband, lost at sea in a helicopter crash years before, calls just as she’s finishing up a family dinner with her financé. The plot enfolds two love stories and Emma must make a choice, her forever choice. Author Taylor Jenkins Reid yanks a rope around your heart and keeps it restrained between the pages in this beautifully written tale that could have no better ending.

In addition to One True Loves, published in 2016, Reid has a number of titles under her belt including Daisy Jones &The Six, now a miniseries on Prime video. Visit her website at TaylorJenkinsReid.com for more information. 

In this blog, I offer a different type of book review — one that’s combined with vocabulary building. Included here are a few interesting words I found in One True Loves, written by Taylor Jenkins Reid and published by Washington Square Press, an imprint of Simon & Schuster.

The definitions here are for just a few words from One True Loves that I found interesting, unfamiliar, or unusual in use:

hooligan: noun. (perhaps from Patrick Hooligan—Irish hoodlum in Southwark, London 1898) Ruffian, hoodlum. 

From One True Loves: 

“To them, I had gone from a precious little girl to a hooligan overnight.”

conciliatory: adjective. 1. a. not flowing in a current or stream (stagnant water) b. Stale 2. Not advancing or developing. 

From One True Loves: 

“’I’m going to give Eli a conciliatory hug and then, Olive, we can head home,’ she said.”

gamine: noun. (French feminine of gamin) 1. A girl who hangs around on the streets. 2. A small playfully mischievous girl. adjective Of, relating to, or suggesting a gamine.   

From One True Loves: 

“The only change she can see is my short, blond hair.

‘It’s very gamine.’”

assuage: verb. 1. To lessen the intensity of (something that pains or distresses): ease. 2. Pacify, quiet. 3. To put an end to by satisfying: appease, quench.  

From One True Loves: 

“It was gestures like that, small acts of intimacy between them, that made me think my parents probably still had sex. I was both repulsed and somewhat assuaged by the thought.”

stagnant: adjective. 1. a. not flowing in a current or stream (stagnant water) b. Stale 2. Not advancing or developing. 

From One True Loves: 

“People aren’t stagnant. We evolve in reaction to our pleasures and pains.”

 Definitions are typically from the dictionary that comes with my Mac or Merriam Webster.

“The word is only a representation of the meaning; even at its best, writing almost always falls short of full meaning. Given that, why in God’s name would you want to make things worse by choosing a word which is only cousin to the one you really wanted to use?” ― Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft.

My Vocabulary Book Review of FORGET ME NOT by Julie Soto

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Forget Me Not is a romantic tale that I picked up at the library and had to include here. The story is very well written with a plot that had me rooting for both lead characters and turning the page to see if they’d finally end up together. One’s a florist, the other a wedding planner, and you can’t get more romantic than that. Author Julie Soto does a captivating job of weaving just enough spicy scenes with conflict over a big wedding that could set them both up for promising professional futures. You’ll have to pick this one up to see if or how they work it out. 

In this blog, I offer a different type of book review — one that’s combined with vocabulary building. Included below are a few interesting flower/plant names I found in Forget Me Not. Julie Soto included several of them, and I found myself looking them up for images after a few scenes. Not until the scene was over, I couldn’t stop reading! 

The definitions here are for just a few words from Forget Me Not that, as it turns out all start with A, and I found them interesting:

astilbe: noun. an Old World plant of the saxifrage family, with plumes of tiny white, pink, or red flowers. ORIGIN — modern Latin, from Greek a- ‘not’ + stilbē, feminine of stilbos ‘glittering’ (because the individual flowers are small and inconspicuous).

From Forget Me Not: “I built a chandelier by suspending a rectangular tray from the ceiling in the back room with a lightweight chain. I filled it with pink baby’s breath and feathery blush flowers from an astilbe.”

amaranth: noun. 1 any plant of the genus Amaranthus, typically having small green, red, or purple-tinted flowers. Certain varieties are grown for food. Family Amaranthaceae: several genera, especially Amaranthus 2a purple color. 3an imaginary flower that never fades. ORIGIN — mid 16th century: from French amarante or modern Latin amaranthus, alteration (on the pattern of plant names ending in -anthus, from Greek anthos‘flower’) of Latin amarantus, from Greek amarantos‘ not fading’.

From Forget Me Not: “I shrug. ‘There are so few A-M-A words in the world. Amaranth?’

‘You are conveniently forgetting amazing. What is Amaranth?’

‘I didn’t forget; I disregarded. Amaranth is a plant. Drooping pink flowers that I use in bouquets sometimes.’”

amaryllis: noun. a bulbous plant with white, pink, or red flowers and strap-shaped leaves, of the type genus of the amaryllis family, Amaryllidaceae. A South African plant (Amaryllis belladonna, also called belladonna lily), and (popularly) a tropical South American plant that is frequently grown as a houseplant (hybrids of the genus Hippeastrum, formerly Amaryllis) ORIGIN — modern Latin, from Latin Amaryllis(from Greek Amarullis), a name for a country girl in pastoral poetry.

From Forget Me Not: “‘Amaryllis,’ I say, my voice soft in the quiet shop. I lift my eyes to her, and she’s pressing her lips together, a blush on her cheeks, a stain on her neck as vibrant as the Red Pearl amaryllis. ‘Is your mother a fan of musicals, or…?’

Her eyes sparkle again. ‘How does someone like you know a minor character from The Music Man.’”

 Definitions are typically from the dictionary that comes with my Mac or The New Oxford American Dictionary.

“The word is only a representation of the meaning; even at its best, writing almost always falls short of full meaning. Given that, why in God’s name would you want to make things worse by choosing a word which is only cousin to the one you really wanted to use?” ― Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft.

Riley’s Ghost by John David Anderson

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Riley’s Ghost is an enchanting tale that was listed as “SCARY” for middle-grade readers at my local library. As an author, I’ve taken an interest in middle-grade fiction. I’ve written a Christmas and have plans pending for a somewhat scary middle-grade novel in the future.

Riley’s Ghost was a great choice as a writing sample in the genre because it is so well done. Author John David Anderson goes deep into the character’s head as she deals with a scary night, recalls memories both good and bad, and learns a lot about herself. I enjoyed the tale and the character, but I was very impressed with the writing skills. Anderson also throws in some words to challenge the young readers who pick up this book and won’t be able to put it down until Riley’s nightmare of a night comes to an end.

In this blog, I offer a different type of book review — one that’s combined with vocabulary building. Included below are a few interesting words I found in Riley’s Ghost. I love that a book written for middle-grade readers included words that challenged me! 

The definitions here are for just a few words from Riley’s Ghost that I found interesting:

sarcophagus: noun — särˈkäfəɡəs — a stone coffin, typically adorned with a sculpture or inscription and associated with the ancient civilizations of Egypt, Rome, and Greece. — ORIGIN: late Middle English: via Latin from Greek sarkophagos‘flesh-consuming’, from sarx, sark-‘flesh’ + -phagos‘-eating’.

From Riley’s Ghost:

“What had he called it? A vessel? It sounded like an old word, full of antiquity and ritual. It reminded Riley of a museum she’d gone to once that had a sarcophagus of some pharaoh on display; scattered around it were jars of limestone that supposedly held the dead man’s lungs and liver and stomach. Vessels.”

…

sharbade: noun. Sharbade is a game played on specialized scooters and is a mixture of hockey, soccer, and basketball. The name is derived from Shoulder Arm and Back Development- the parts of the body put to heaviest use in playing the game. Participants use only their hands and arms for propulsion of a scooter on which they lie while playing the game. A basketball court is typically used as the playing field. Each team has seven players on the floor at one time and another seven on the bench. A maximum of 15 players can be on a team. 

(I had to get this definition on the internet from Utah Valley University’s information on its intramural sports program page.)

From Riley’s Ghost:

“Of course Riley might have administered a few of those bruises herself. Like the time she rammed into Caroline Silton so hard in sharbade that she knocked the girl off her scooter and then accidentally—because it was an accident—rolled over Caroline’s hand, sending her to the nurse.”

…

tchotchkey: noun — tchotchke | ˈCHɒCHkə, ˈCHäCHkə | (also tsatske) — 1 North American English a small object that is decorative rather than strictly functional; a trinket. 2 US English a pretty girl or woman. — Origin: 1960s Yiddish

From Riley’s Ghost:

“The librarian’s desk was much the same—perfect blocks of sticky notes and a tidy wire cup of sharp pencils punctuated by an odd assortment of tchotchkes accumulated from Mrs. Grissolm’s summer vacations: a conch from Costa Rica, a surfing Santa Claus from Hawaii, a miniature Big Ben that chimes out on the hour. Order and chaos. Just like life.”

…

zerbert: noun — 1 (informal) The sound made when someone places the mouth against skin and blows, imitative of the sound of flatulence. — Synonym: raspberry

From Riley’s Ghost:

“If the offense was minor—thrown broccoli, a scribbled wall, a dirty look—he would gobble her up in his arms and say, ‘You little monster’ before commencing to zerbert her into submission or swing her upside down by her ankles.”

…

 Definitions are typically from the dictionary that comes with my Mac or The New Oxford American Dictionary.

“The word is only a representation of the meaning; even at its best, writing almost always falls short of full meaning. Given that, why in God’s name would you want to make things worse by choosing a word which is only cousin to the one you really wanted to use?” ― Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft.

Bride Swap — A Romance by Author Beth Carter

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In this blog, I offer a different type of book review — one that’s combined with vocabulary building. Included here are a few interesting words I found in Bride Swap.

Bride Swap is a fun romantic read. Author Beth Carter provides a heartfelt tale of two female characters each struggling to make it on their own, one with a child to support. You’ll have to pick up a copy of Bride Swap to see who’s getting married or not.

The definitions below are for just a few words important for the telling of this absolutely adorable love story:

engaged: adj. 1. Busy; occupied. BRIT. (of a telephone line) unavailable because already in use. 2. Having formally agreed to marry. 3. (architecture) (of a column) attached to or partly let into a wall. 

From Bride Swap:

“She glanced at her bare ring finger. She was newly engaged but hadn’t yet told anyone at the station. She knew how some of her more cut-throat colleagues would be once they heard she was set to marry the top anchor at the rival television station across town.”

swag: noun. 1. An ornamental festoon of flowers, fruit, and greenery. 2. INFORMAL money or goods taken by a thief or burglar. 3. AUSTRAL/NZ a traveler’s or miner’s bundle of personal belongings. 

Slang definitions include: 1. Term for advertising merchandise, branded merchandise, or promotional products. 2. Formerly used for anything cool. 

From Bride Swap:

“Emma, you’re more creative than me, plus you make all of that beautiful swag for authors. You’re amazing with that stuff. I’d love for you to plan a gorgeous wedding for Trent and me.”

transfixed/transfix: verb. 1. Cause someone to become motionless with horror, wonder, or astonishment. 2. Pierce with a sharp implement or weapon.

From Bride Swap: 

“He stood transfixed as if he were a marble statue. The smirk Paige had seen one too many times appeared as Trent asked, ‘Did someone have a bad day? Is it that time of month, Paige, or is Zach-y boy going after your job like I knew he would?’”

 Definitions are typically from the dictionary that comes with my Mac or The New Oxford American Dictionary.

“The word is only a representation of the meaning; even at its best, writing almost always falls short of full meaning. Given that, why in God’s name would you want to make things worse by choosing a word which is only cousin to the one you really wanted to use?” ― Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft.

Her Name Was Rose

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Her Name Was Rose is a wild ride of a psychological thriller that caught me up in the first chapter and kept my head spinning until the surprising turn of an end. Some of the language can be attributed to the novel’s setting on the Donegal Coastline of Ireland. 

In this blog, I offer a different type of book review­—one that’s combined with vocabulary building. Included here, are a few interesting words I found in Her Name Was Rose by Claire Allan.

The following includes just a few words from Her Name Was Rose that I found interesting:

eejit: noun. Informal Irish and Scottish form of idiot. 

From Her Name Was Rose: 

“I want to be a complete madly-in-love eegit and wear a T-shirt that says I love Owen & Owen loves me! on it.”

klaxon: noun. <Trademark> An electric horn or a similar oud warning device. Origin — Early 20th Century from the name of the manufacturing company.

From Her Name Was Rose: 

“She’d spoken to my family, for God’s sake, sounded the ‘Emily is going off the deep end’ klaxon.”

 Definitions are typically from the dictionary that comes with my Mac or The New Oxford American Dictionary.

“The word is only a representation of the meaning; even at its best, writing almost always falls short of full meaning. Given that, why in God’s name would you want to make things worse by choosing a word which is only cousin to the one you really wanted to use?” ― Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft

A Vocabulary Book Review of THE GIRL WHO COULD MOVE SH*T WITH HER MIND

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This blog offers a different type of book review­—one that’s combined with vocabulary building. Included here, following a short review, are a few interesting words I found The Girl Who Could Move Sh*t With Her Mind by Jackson Ford.

I read this book hoping to attend Ford’s visit to our local library. I missed the visit but enjoyed the book just the same. 

The book’s plot is sci fi and thriller skillfully combined to pull you along as you feel the main character, Teagan Frost, a psychokinetic working for a secret government team of experts in handling extreme situations, search for some sort of normalcy in her strange world.

The book is set in L.A. but written by an English author who had never been there. It makes for some interesting twists in spelling. Words like tyres and cheque and authorised were a little unexpected in spelling for a novel set in the states, but added to the fun read for me.   

The following includes just a few words from The Girl Who Could Move Sh*t With Her Mind that are important to the book, that I found interesting, or words used in an interesting way:

Psychokinetic/Psychokinesis: noun. Plural. The supposed ability to move objects by mental effort alone. (psychokinetic: adj.)

The Girl Who Could Move Sh*t With Her Mind, Page 1:  “Pro tip: if you’re going to take a high dive off the 82nd floor, make sure you do it with a psychokinetic holding your hand.”

Pugnacious: adjective. Eager or quick to argue, quarrel or fight.

The Girl Who Could Move Sh*t With Her Mind, Page 392:  “It’s a pugnacious, almost childish look: a look that says I know what I’m doing, and you couldn’t possibly understand. It’s raw, boiling arrogance.”

Rebar: noun. A steel reinforcing rod in concrete.

The Girl Who Could Move Sh*t With Her Mind, Page 93:  “It’s a piece of steel reinforcement bar—what house builders call rebar. It’s tough to see because it’s almost buried, twisted like it was nothing more than a length of wire. It wraps around his throat three times, dug in so deep that it’s almost decapitated him. 

Clusterfuck: noun. A disastrously mishandled situation or undertaking.

The Girl Who Could Move Sh*t With Her Mind, Page 1:  “I make my way over to find her staring at a clusterfuck of tangled cables spilling out of one of the servers.”

 Definitions are typically from the dictionary that comes with my Mac or The New Oxford American Dictionary.

“The word is only a representation of the meaning; even at its best, writing almost always falls short of full meaning. Given that, why in God’s name would you want to make things worse by choosing a word which is only cousin to the one you really wanted to use?” ― Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft

Still Writing and Planning a LOVELY Retirement

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I have struggled keeping up with this blog and totally ignoring promotion of my books as life moves on. I have a lot of hope, however, and continue to write. I have a third book in the works for my Danni Deadline thriller series and a couple of new writing adventures I’ve tackled in recent years. I’ll tell you more about those in the future.

I plan to retire, probably in January. I’ll be 62 in May and I’m ready to put my efforts toward the things I truly enjoy —my hubs, my daughters, my grandkids, and my writing.

To continue with the theme of vocabulary in this blog, I thought I’d throw out the word LOVELY.

Lovely, adjective (lovelier, loveliest) exquisitely beautiful: lovely views | you have lovely eyes. •informal very pleasant or enjoyable; delightful: we’ve had a lovely day | she’s a lovely person.

Published in 2016. Available on Amazon and at Pen-L.com. I love the way Danni Edens, newspaper reporter, grows professionally and personally as she tackles some tough shit in this book. Buy at https://pen-l.com/ALovelyMurder.html

I chose Lovely County as the fictitious county in my books because much of northwest Arkansas was once named Lovely County.

Published in 2015 and now out of print. I plan to republish upon my retirement, and have revised the book some. I’m working on something special related to this book as well. More info coming on that.

MY VOCABULARY BOOK REVIEW

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This blog offers a different type of book review­—one that’s combined with vocabulary building. Words used in an interesting way or unfamiliar words are chosen for this blog.

If You Walk Long Enough

By Nancy Hartney

Nancy Hartney has a unique southern voice that immediately draws you into the lives she’s created as if each is a family member you know well. Her characters make you feel their pain, their joy, their struggles, and triumphs. Before you know it, you’re lost in the story and have to know more because you either love them or hate them to your core!

Hartney is known for her captivating short stories and commentary on southern life, particularly anything horses. Her work can be found in publications throughout the south. This is her first novel, but she has previously published two short story collections: Washed in the Water, and If the Creek Don’t Rise. Both are treasures of exemplary storytelling.

If You Walk Long Enough proves that Hartney’s talent for storytelling thrives in the longer format. The novel tells the story of two Marines returning home from Vietnam to find a different reality than what they left in the tobacco fields of South Carolina. We see how they’ve changed as well as how each struggles to meld back into a normal life despite rampant racism, struggling family life, lost love, and their war-ravaged mental states.

Nancy Hartney’s first novel is available in select bookstores and at https://www.amazon.com/If-You-Walk-Long-Enough/dp/1509234624

A Few Words from If You Walk Long Enough:

  • Nattered, Natter: verb. To talk incessantly; chatter. noun. A conversation; chat. 

If You Walk Long Enough, Page 8: Blue jays nattered around the bird feeder, keeping the smaller finches and sparrows at bay.

  • Gullah: noun. 1. A member of a population of Black Americans inhabiting the Sea Islands and the coastal regions of South Carolina, Georgia, and northeastern Florida. 2. A creolized form of English spoken by the Gullahs, containing many words and grammatical features derived from African languages. 

If You Walk Long Enough, Page 8:  Ellie paused, and twisted the phone cord around her hand, released it, and grew sharp. “Diana and I work together. On the Chamber’s Gullah project. She’s a hired consultant. The whole project’s for tourism. And historical preservation. That’s all.”

  • Farrowing, Farrow: noun1. A litter of pigs. / verb 1. To give birth to (a litter of pigs) or bring forth young. / adj. 1. Not pregnant – generally when referring to a cow.

and

  • Shoat: noun. 1. A piglet recently weaned, usually less than a year old.

If You Walk Long Enough, Page 61:  Their place, five acres including the clapboard house, nestled in a cluster of trees, mostly oaks with several pecan trees and a black walnut on the east side. A farrowing pen and shoat closure sat behind the house with a vegetable garden taking a chunk of the remaining land. 

  • Disquiet: transitive verb. 1. To take away the peace or tranquility of. 2. Disturb 3. Alarm / noun. 1. A lack of peace or tranquility. 2. Anxiety / adjective. 1. uneasy

If You Walk Long Enough, Page 63:  A vague sense of disquiet settled on him whenever whites were around. He resented being treated as if uneducated, a non-person. He watched Reid approach, and, finally, as an afterthought, spoke.

  • Klicks, Klick: noun. 1. A synonym for kilometer commonly used by the U.S. and U.K. military, which use the metric system almost exclusively for communication with allied forces. 

If You Walk Long Enough, Page 184:  Several klicks outside his base camp, Reid had passed a makeshift Vietnamese civilian clinic compound. A Quonset hut sat among a jumble of small sheds and storage areas, covered with tattered pieces of plastic and corrugated metal. A freestanding tent, open sides yet suffocatingly hot, offered shade for the weekly medicine and food distribution. Scattered crude shelters housed the families of wounded and sick, until they either died, or found a way back to their village. Outside cooking rings, in various stages of use, smoked constantly, like trash burn-barrels dotting Reid’s rural Carolina homescape. 

  • Plumeria: noun. 1. Known as frangipani or Lei flowers, is a genus of flowering plants in the family Apocynaceae. Most species are deciduous shrubs or small trees native to tropical regions. 

If You Walk Long Enough, Page 202:  The whoomph of choppers, crinkle of body bags, and slap of Uncle Ho sandals became one sound. Metallic smells blended, hung unpleasant in the air overwhelming the delicate perfume of plumeria. Everything merged.

  • Abdication, Abdicate: verb. 1. To cast off, discard. 2. To relinquish (as sovereign power) formally. / intransitive verb. 1. To renounce a throne, high office, dignity, or function.

If You Walk Long Enough, Page 257:  He flipped the lighter open, lit up, and clicked it closed. He cupped the tip of his cigarette in his hands, hid the bright glow, took deep a drag, and exhaled. “Chinese filtered into the Nguyen dynasty centuries ago. They are the ones that forced the French abdication and started that bloody damn civil war. Then here we come, men-boys strutting along, waving guns, ready to save the world from Communism.”

Definitions are a mix from Merriam Webster’s, The New Oxford American Dictionary and others.

FULL and humble DISCLOSURE: I’m truly honored to say Nancy is a beloved friend. We share a writing critique group, a publisher, and a love for the craft. She’s also a retired librarian for the Fayetteville Public Library, where both my daughters were lucky enough to work part-time as library pages while students in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Don’t let that diminish a word I’ve said about this fantastic storyteller or you’ll miss out on a great reading experience. 

Find out more about this fantastic author at nancyhartney.com.

Nancy Hartney, author and poet

“The word is only a representation of the meaning; even at its best, writing almost always falls short of full meaning. Given that, why in God’s name would you want to make things worse by choosing a word which is only cousin to the one you really wanted to use?” ― Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft

The Language of Eldercare

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It’s been quite some time since I’ve officially blogged. Life!

To get back on my feet (or back at my writing desk), I’ll use this blog to define a few words I’ve learned the last few years caring for my elderly mother.

Most of the definitions below are from Merriam-Webster.com and are narrowed to the eldercare issues that have consumed my life these past four years.

Dementia: noun. A usually progressive condition marked by the development of multiple cognitive deficits (such as memory impairment, aphasia, and the inability to plan and initiate complex behavior).

Transient Ischemic Attack (a.k.a. ministroke): noun. A brief episode of cerebral ischemia (obstructed blood flow) that is usually characterized by temporary blurring of vision, slurring of speech, numbness, paralysis, or syncope (loss of consciousness) and is often predictive of a serious stroke. Abbreviated as TIA.

Hallucination: noun. A sensory perception (such as visual image or a sound) that occurs in the absence of an actual external stimulus and usually arises from neurological disturbance or in response to drugs.

Cognitive: adjective. Of, relating to, or involving conscious intellectual activity (such as thinking, reasoning, or remembering).

Mom having fun at the casino in healthier times just a few years ago.

Respite: adjective. Providing or being temporary care in relief of a primary caregiver.

Atrophy: noun. Decrease in size or wasting away of a body part or tissue. Also, a wasting away or progressive decline.

Palliative: adjective. Something that palliates. From the verb, palliate: To reduce the violence of (a disease). Also, to ease (symptoms) without curing the underlying disease.

Hospice: noun. A program designed to provide palliative care and emotional support to the terminally ill in a home or homelike setting so that quality of life is maintained and family members may be active participants in care. Also, a facility that provides such a program.

PACE: proper noun. PACE stands for Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly. PACE is a national program working with nursing home-eligible individuals to provide day programs, general support, and medical care to keep them in their homes longer. It’s a Medicare/Medicaid benefit.

PACE of the Ozarks, the northwest Arkansas organization, has been a blessing for me and my mother!

Thanks for reading! I expect to soon return to my usual book review blog.

For more information about author Lori Ericson publications, including her Danni Deadline Thrillers, visit her on Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/Lori-Ericson/e/B00S5MJGM8/ref=dp_byline_cont_pop_ebooks_1

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