ABOUT
OUR AUDIENCE
ABeautifulVoice.org is a lifestyle e-magazine for dementia care partners who…
- focus not only on exemplary basic care, but also on higher level needs which make life worth living.
- embrace creativity, discovery, and partnership to enhance the well-being of the person living with dementia.
- believe that good elder care is a basic human right and that the quality of our care is a reflection of our core values.
- recognize that caregiving is becoming increasingly complex and needs to be more sustainable for families who provide care.
- recognize that by sharing our stories, we become more empowered to help affect change and to “revision” public policy for the 21st century.
- choose to live boldly, but aren’t sure where to begin.
We begin with “hope.”
ABOUT
THE RANCHERS
It was 1998. We were embarking on an adventure in life for which we had no road map, no road markers, and no role models for living well with dementia. Our mantra was, “It’s about dignity.” We were at the intersection of “hope” and “hopelessness.” We chose “hope.” The title of one of our many songbooks being Sing the Journey, that is what we did. We sang the journey.
We wore many hats – among them our Western hats which seemed most befitting. Dad and Mother had served as management partners for almost three decades on the large farm adjacent to the property where we were now returning. We were separated from the woods on the old farm property by a fence which he had built many years before. Thus, our modest duplex immediately earned the whimsical title, “The Ranch” and we became “The Ranchers.” It was a time for hope and, in many ways, a new beginning.
Susan Troyer, BA, MS
Author, Curator
Passionate about adventure, healthy cuisine, fitness, music, film, international travel, new frontiers, human progress and innovation, and life-long learning. My career years were dedicated to Chicago area medical centers in the provision of innovative recruitment and retention programs for professional nurses.
One of my life chapters includes walking alongside my parents in their final years. I became a “digital nomad,” building a physician consulting business from an office in the “back 40” of a home shared with them over a 14-year period.
Having maintained my home on Chicago’s lakefront for four decades, I now live in beautiful Guanajuato City in Mexico.
Andrew Osta
Artist and creator of whimsical farm scene
A Ukrainian-Canadian artist, Andrew is an accomplished painter, songwriter, and author. Originally from Kiev, he is world-traveled and now living in the Americas. At the time of our initial meeting, he was three days away from moving his studio and home base from San Miguel de Allende in Mexico to the city of Oaxaca in Southern Mexico. His beautiful art can be found on his website, www.andrewosta.com.
Well-being pyramid illustrating hierarchy of “6 Real Life Pleasures.” Adapted by ABeautifulVoice.org. Adapted from Dementia Beyond Disease, Enhancing Well-Being – Revised Edition, (p. 99), by G. Allen Power, MD, FACP (2017).
ABOUT
HIERARCHY of NEEDS
Long having had an appreciation for Maslow’s Hierarchy, I had frequently reflected upon it in various situations prior to coming to the ranch. While being with my parents, it continued to come to mind. It was significant in helping to define our lifestyle.
In this adaptation, “6 Real Life Pleasures” represent the six categories found on the Home Page of this e-magazine. This pyramid is a visual representation of what we set out to do two decades earlier – “to be the best we could be.”