Dreamvisions 7 Radio Network and Deborah Beauvais welcome author Florrie Munat to the Love By Intuition Show. Before becoming a caregiver Florrie authored numerous children’s books, nonfiction articles, short stories, and poems. worked as a reference and young adult librarian, taught high school English, and worked for a university press. Join us Tuesday July 17th Live at 6pmET/3pmPT on syndicated Dreamvisions 7 Radio Network LISTEN LIVE or Get our App. Other broadcasts July 24th & 27th at 6am & 6pmET LISTEN HERE Callers can ask a question by calling 833-220-1200 Toll Free or direct 319-527-2638
Be Brave A Wife’s Journey Through Caregiving, with author Florrie Munat
In 2003, my husband Chuck suffered an ischemic stroke followed by a diagnosis of Lewy body dementia, and I became his caregiver. His overnight transformation from an active, independent man to a disabled, cognitively impaired nursing home resident changed our lives in ways we could never have imagined.
Chuck Munat was born and raised in Chicago during the Depression. His family was perennially in debt, so he assumed that his education would end when he graduated from high school—where he was class president and newspaper editor. But two scholarships provided enough funds for him to earn a bachelor’s degree from Loyola University in 1956.
After driving a cab in Chicago and serving two years in the U.S. Army, Chuck became a high school English teacher, working at several schools in the inner city. After ten years of teaching, he moved to Connecticut where he became a writer and editor of a classroom newspaper for the Weekly Reader Corporation. Later he taught communication skills to minority students in the pre-nursing program at Greater Hartford Community College. He founded the Volunteer Genealogists at the Connecticut History Society and received their lifetime achievement award.
In my memoir, Be Brave: A Wife’s Journey Through Caregiving, I invite the reader to walk in my shoes as I discovered what could be rebuilt from our past life and what had to be relinquished. At first I thought I could not bear the “long goodbye” of a dementia illness. But over the six years I took care of Chuck I learned that our love had not diminished, only segued into something different. We didn’t know where his illness would take us next, but we trusted that our love would carry us through the journey.
Before becoming a caregiver I authored numerous children’s books, nonfiction articles, short stories, and poems. I worked as a reference and young adult librarian, taught high school English, and worked for a university press. Chuck and I raised four children, and our family hosted four foreign exchange students. I am currently a volunteer radio reader and Young Adult book reviewer; and I write and edit for the Lewy Body Dementia Association and several community groups. I live on Bainbridge Island, Washington, where I enjoy photography, the New York Times crossword puzzle, hiking, reading, and following Seattle’s underdog sports teams. http://www.florriemunat.com/
Later in the Show Chrissa J. Santoro, external external communications director at Omega joins us to share exciting programs and what is new at Omega Institute.
Chrissa J. Santoro, RYT, has been a practitioner of hatha yoga and meditation since 1998. She is external communications director at Omega, where she also teaches daily open yoga classes to participants and staff. www.eomega.org
