Home Care In Andover, CT

A year ago this month, Lisa and Peter Marshall were set to wed.

The Andover, Conn. couple was already married. However, Peter was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease in 2018 and was struggling with memory loss. At this time, Peter was having a hard time remembering his more-than-decade-long marriage to Lisa.

One night while watching TV, Peter surprised Lisa with an idea.

“He pointed at the TV," Lisa remembered, and said, "‘Let’s do it.’ I said, ‘Do what? What are you talking about?,’ ... I looked at the TV and it was [a] couple getting married, and I said, ‘Do you want to get married?’ He said, ‘Yeah.’ He had this big grin on his face. I said, ‘Are you asking me to marry you?’ He nodded and he grinned and said, ‘Yes.’"

"When the person you love so deeply asks you twice and chooses you twice, it is remarkable,” Lisa said in a previous interview.

Their vow renewal in April of 2021 went viral, getting coverage from a number of national outlets such as the Washington Post, CNN and People.

However, in a matter of months, Peter’s health declined rapidly.

Lisa said the last couple of steps in his battle with Alzheimer’s were “horrific” for her as she watched him lose the ability to self-function. Suddenly, activities such as eating and showering became difficult for Peter.

According to John Hopkins medicine, Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia. Early-onset Alzheimer’s disease mostly affects individuals between their 30s and 60s, and comprises roughly 10 percent of all Alzheimer’s-related cases.

“It was a very, very rapid decline. He flew through the stages [of Alzheimer’s],” Lisa said. “He went from being very present the day of the vow renewal, and within eight months, he was gone. It was just tragically quick.”

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Peter passed away at home, surrounded by his family, on Dec. 26, 2021. He was 56.

Now, four months after his passing, Lisa is writing a book in hopes of helping others on their journey with Alzheimer's. She’ll also be honored next month for her active role in the community with an award from the Connecticut Chapter of the Alzheimer's Association.

'Find joy. No regrets.'

Lisa said it was incredibly hard at first following Peter’s passing, but allowing herself to go through the grieving process has been instrumental.

“At first it was terrible, I lost 15 pounds immediately. I couldn’t even chew. The physical pain of grief; I just wasn’t expecting it,” Lisa said. “You have to honor where you are in the grieving process. Whether it’s anger or you feel lost or you’re just so devastated. You have to recognize the emotions and go through them because you can’t go around them.”

“I still cry everyday. I still miss him terribly and ask him often, ‘What should I do in this situation?’ I’m moving through the grief as I know I need to,” she added.

Since losing Peter, Lisa said she has been able to slowly start doing things that she says she has “neglected.” Some of those activities include spending time with friends and family, going on trips and focusing on her physical health.

“Now, I feel a little bit lighter [and] a little bit freer. I’m doing some things for myself and getting to know myself again. Getting acquainted if you will,” Lisa said.

Part of the grieving process can be surmised in a quote written throughout Lisa’s blog “Oh Hello Alzheimer’s” and tattooed on her arm: “Find Joy. No Regrets.”

For Lisa, the quote is about finding joy in the moments that you shared with your loved ones while knowing that you provided the very best for them.

“When you’re in the throes of caring for someone with Alzheimer’s, it may be difficult to find joy because you’re consumed by the disease. You’re consumed by the negativity of all the things that you’re losing. It was hopeful for me to find and focus on the things that Peter could still do,” Lisa said. “My goal, the day after Peter’s death, was to feel as though I had no regrets and that I gave him a beautiful life, and I do feel that.”

Helping other caregivers

Following the success of the blog, Lisa said she is writing a book that she hopes to have on shelves by the end of this year. In the book, Lisa said she goes into her relationship with Peter and offers a number of tips to help caregivers aiding those with dementia-related illnesses.

Lisa said the book is a “love story from when we met all the way until his death,” but also delves into taboo topics that aren’t easily accessible for caregivers such as intimacy with a partner with Alzheimer’s.

The “Oh Hello Alzheimer’s” blog is still continuing too, despite what Lisa says is her and Peter’s journey being over. The blog, which had been used to keep the public up-to-date on Peter and Lisa, is “taking on a different flavor” and has become a tool to help those affected by Alzheimer’s.

“I felt it was sort of fizzling out. Peter and my journey is over, and the blog was all about our journey,” Lisa said. “I’ve struggled to come up with things to talk about but whenever I talk about what I’m doing now and how I’m doing now. The outpouring of support is surprising because caregivers are so hungry for hope on the other side. I didn’t realize that was going to happen.”

Lisa hosts monthly virtual Zoom sessions through her blog that offer a space for those affected by Alzheimer’s to voice their stories and share advice for others who may be going through the same experience.

“It was just so shocking how many people were connected through the blog because of that vow renewal and how many people are affected by Alzheimer’s and other related dementias,” Lisa said. “It’s just insane.”

Outside of her writing, Lisa has joined a coalition started by the Department of Health that looks at gaps in supporting families dealing with Alzheimer's and other dementia-related illnesses as well as creating awareness for related topics such as brain health, early detection, caregiving and family support. Lisa is currently a co-chair on the caregiver and family support arm of the project, which is comprised of caregivers, public officials and medical professionals.

On May 13, Lisa will be honored at the Connecticut Chapter of the Alzheimer's Association's Celebrating Hope fundraising gala for her active work in the Alzheimer's community. She will be given the 'Resilience and Hope award.'

“I’m just so humbled. It’s so sweet," Lisa said. “It’s such an honor to be honored. I love that it’s celebrating hope.”

“What’s amazing about Lisa is in the midst of grief and healing, she still helps other caregivers who are on the dementia journey. Lisa was the top fundraiser in our state last year for our Alzheimer’s Association Walk to End Alzheimer’s, she still blogs on 'Oh Hello Alzheimer’s' and she is now involved in Advocacy at our chapter," said Ginny Hanbridge, Executive Director of the Alzheimer’s Association's Connecticut Chapter. "For all these reasons and more we are pleased to honor her with the ‘Resilience and Hope' award at our Celebrating Hope benefit."

The Alzheimer's Association offers 24-hour support for people living with dementia, their caregivers and family members. The service can be reached by phone at 800-272-3900.

Nearly one million people in the United States are living with Parkinson’s disease, according to the Parkinson’s Foundation. The 2023 Connecticut Parkinson’s Symposium will bring some of them together on Friday.

Lisa Turgeon recently learned the joy of a punching bag.

“Sometimes I warm up with just jabs, and then add hooks,” Turgeon, of Andover, said.

She embraces boxing as part of her commitment to daily exercise.

“My husband walks with me, Pete, we just started walking more and more,” Turgeon said.

That passion ignited after a life-changing diagnosis in December.

“At first I was shocked,” Turgeon said. “I was very upset about it. I didn't know what to do for the first couple of weeks.”

Turgeon is not alone in her battle against Parkinson's disease.

“We have 9,000 or 10,000 people in Connecticut with Parkinson's disease. One to two people 65 and older out of 100 will develop Parkinson's,” Dr. Joy Antonelle de Marcaida, medical director of Chase Family Movement Disorders Center, Hartford HealthCare, said.

De Marcaida will be relaying a message of hope as the keynote speaker at the Connecticut Parkinson’s Symposium. Neurologists, pharmacists and therapists will share resource and shed light on medical advancements.

“There are so many clinical trials that are ongoing,” de Marcaida said. “We have many research studies looking into these other aspects of normal living that can also change the trajectory of their disease.”

She says people can take control by socializing, sleeping well, eating healthy and regular exercise.

That is why Turgeon’s family surprised here with an at-home gym.

“That’s what it looked like. And then I came home and it looked like that,” Turgeon said, showing a before and after photo of the basement. “I felt overwhelmed by support.”

“My son is a fitness nut. So, you know, Ali had the idea, and the motivation and the ability to get all the things shipped here in time. And Thomas was our technical consultant on exactly what weights we wanted to have and other types of equipment for the room,” Peter Turgeon, Lisa Turgeon’s husband, said.

Turgeon’s unwavering dedication to her wellbeing comes along with her latest major health battle, after she beat cancer in 2012 and later underwent two brain surgeries.

“Tomorrow's promise to nobody,” Alexandra Carlson, Lisa Turgeon’s daughter, said. “I think we worry a lot about the future. But I also think she's doing an amazing job. We're going to support her and whatever she needs. We're going to just enjoy the ride and all of the wonderful things that are coming anyway.”

After every workout, Turgeon reads the words written across a sign in her gym.

“Think strong, move strong, be strong, and beat PD,” she said. “It makes me feel empowered. It makes me feel energized. It makes me feel hopeful.”

A message that Turgeon embraces - along with treasured moments with her grandchildren, children and husband - the people she loves most.

“I feel really lucky to be able to spend so much time with them. I feel like they're just a gift,” Turgeon said.

The 2023 Connecticut Parkinson’s Symposium is happening at the Rentschler Field Clubhouse from 1 to 5 p.m. on Friday. The free event is sold out.

The event is organized by Beat Parkinson’s Today. Anyone who wants to donate to provide exercise classes to people with Parkinson’s disease can do so online.

The Andover Public Library has a number of programs being offered during the summer season.

On Monday, July 10, from 6 to 6:45 p.m., Animals in Summer will be offered by Library Friend Julie Victoria. Victoria is a retired State of Connecticut Wildlife Biologist who will tell folks how animals have made adaptations to help them survive a summer heatwave. Participants will also have the opportunity to make an animal watering station to take home.

On Wednesday, July 12, from 1:30 to 3 p.m., The Lutz Children’s Museum will offer Wildlife Illustration 2. Participants will be shown two types of drawing techniques and how to draw animals with fantastic adaptations. This will be a 90-minute session with a 15-minute break halfway through, and is tailored for Grades 3-5.

On Thursday, July 13, from 6 to 8 p.m., make your own barbeque herb planter with Kaitlin from Andover. All supplies are provided. There is a $35 per person fee.

On Wednesday, July 19, from 11 to11:45 a.m., enjoy music with Ruth O’Neil. O’Neil will lead kids of all ages in a round of fun singing.

On Wednesday, July 26, from 2 to 3 p.m., Dress to Make a Mess! This fun painting program with Mrs. Campen will focus on creativity and developing ideas and painting with no brushes!

There will be two free gazebo concerts this summer sponsored by Andover Friends of the Library. Shows will be held inside the Community Room if there is rain.

On Friday, July 21, at 6:30 p.m., Two Connecticut Troubadours will feature Kala Farnham and Hugh Blumenfeld.

On Friday, Aug. 4, at 6:30 p.m. Restless Mountain Bluegrass will appear at the gazebo.

“We’re grateful to Amy Orlomoski at the Andover Public Library for inviting our band to their music series,” said Matt Fleury (banjo/vocals), from Restless Mountain.

“Amy is a true bluegrass music lover, so we’re flattered that she chose us,” continued Fleury, noting that the band has heard that the Andover community turns out for the gazebo series and looks forward to it every year.

Fleury said that Restless Mountain is an all-acoustic bluegrass band.

“We cover a lot of traditional and newer bluegrass favorites, and a few originals written by our talented mandolin player, Gracin Dorsey,” he said. “We do this for the love of the music and the joy of making people tap their toes, enjoy some great songs and have some laughs and enjoy themselves.”

On Saturdays at 10:30 a.m. (July 15, Aug. 5, Sept. 9), R.E.A.D. at the library with Sheena.

On Sept. 9, Ferncroft Wildlife Rescue will return with opossums at the Andover Town Hall Community Room. More info to come shortly.

Also, happening now, the Summer Reading Challenge is ongoing from June 19 through Aug. 31. Children and adults are invited to explore the library, choose fiction or nonfiction, or both, and fill in as many titles as they read on a sheet. A ticket is entered for each book read for the September 5 drawing for an adult and a children’s prize.

The Andover Public Library is located at 355 U.S. Route 6.

Library hours are: Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m. through 7 p.m. and Saturday, 10 a.m. through 2 p.m.

Marcy MacDonald had already been swimming for 26 hours across the English Channel where the Strait of Dover converges with the North Sea.

She was on her way from England to Belgium when she got stuck in a tide that tried to push her backwards, along the coast of France near Dunkirk.

MacDonald, who has swum the English Channel 17 times, the most of any American, swam in place for five hours.

“If you were looking at the [swim] tracker, people were like, ‘There’s something wrong with the tracker,” she said Friday from England. “But it was, ‘No, I can’t go anywhere.’

“It was a test of patience, truly.”

And after that, she had six more hours of swimming to finish.

MacDonald, a podiatrist from Andover, swam for 39 hours, covering 54 miles from Ramsgate to a beach in De Panne to become the first person to swim from England to Belgium. She started at 11 p.m. local time on Wednesday night with her friend and pilot for many of her swims, Mike Oram, guiding her with his boat, the Gallivant.

He had brought a relay team of swimmers to Belgium recently, so he was familiar with the tides and how they shift. The route was east of the usual English Channel swim route.

MacDonald had to swim in place twice – once for three hours earlier in the swim and then the long slog along the Dunkirk coastline.

“It’s a very different type of swim,” she said. “You just have to have patience. It’s definitely not for everyone. It’s not a speed thing.

“I told myself, ‘I’m not pushing this at all.’ I knew it was going to be a long swim. I knew I would be out there for 30 hours.”

The water was warm – 70 degrees – but the weather was not perfect.

“I swear, Poseidon and I do not get along,” she said, laughing. “He knows I’m in the Channel and he makes it a challenging swim. It was not a sea of glass.”

The idea to swim to Belgium came to her when she visited the country after one of her Channel swims in 2000.

MacDonald first swam the Channel in 1994 then went back in subsequent years to complete more swims, including three double crossings. She was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 2019 and has a pool named after her in Manchester, Conn., where she grew up.

She struggled to train for this particular swim because, she said, she was having a hard time finding hope in the world earlier this year, between the war in Ukraine and the elementary school shooting in Uvalde and everything else going on.

“I have two hopes,” she wrote in an email to supporters before the swim. “I hope to make this crossing. But if I don’t, I will know I gave my all to the effort. I hope, we, the community of the world, can be kinder and humane to each other. I know I’m hoping for a Pollyanna world but wouldn’t that be wonderful. Let’s be kinder to the elderly and those with special needs, someday, we, younger people, hope to make it to our 80-90s and I hope we will be cared for with kindness.

“What are your hopes? Start locally in your community of the world, volunteer or donate to a local charity.”

Lori Riley can be reached at [email protected].

Superintendent of Andover Public Schools Valerie Bruneau said the community came together to make it work.

ANDOVER, Conn. — While the pandemic has forced many things to change in our lives, the women and men at Andover Public Schools have made it their mission to push through.

Connecticut had its first confirmed cases of the virus in early March 2020, and a short time later, all schools canceled in-person learning for the remainder of the semester. The question remained: How would schools reopen in the fall?

Superintendent of Andover Public Schools Valerie Bruneau said by the time she came on board in the summer, the district had already started its planning process.

"Before the school year even began we had a reopening committee," said Bruneau. "We were looking not only in our neighboring towns and communities but all over the nation to try and see what the best mitigation strategies were going to be."

Andover Public Schools opened in September and Bruneau said the schools have remained open 94% of the time.

Bruneau acknowledged that leading up to the school year, people were fearful about how to return safely to the classroom. It wasn't just in Andover.

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Many teachers and unions called on the state for protocols in spring 2020 for reopening. Schools never went back to in-person learning that semester, and over the summer, the state's Department of Education provided guidelines for teachers and school administrators to reopen safely.

In September, the Connecticut Education Association, which represents over 60,000 educators in the state, once again called on the state to implement certain safety policies. The CEA stated at the time that towns and cities across the state were ignoring COVID-19 safety protocols.

Bruneau said she had the support of the Board of Education and the community had come together to all "be on the same page" when it came to reopening. She said the cooperation was unique, resulting in a successful reopening.

COVID-19 in CT: Andover superintendent highlights school district's success keeping students in classrooms

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Valerie Bruneau

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When asked what other communities could learn from Andover, Bruneau cautioned to say that since Andover is a small town, not every other city or town in the state could do what they did.

"We called in parents to say, 'Hey, we need help with the children staying social distanced on buses'," said Bruneau.

The call to action resulted in more parents bringing their children to school themselves, leaving more room on the buses.

Bruneau also cited 'trust' as one of the main ingredients for the district's success with reopening their schools.

When it came to negotiating teacher contracts with the union, Bruneau said that she had only been on board for three-and-a-half months. But, everyone had come to the table and a few weeks later Bruneau said they had a four-year contract and a "memorandum of understanding".