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Wednesday, April 19, 2017

Puzzles




These aren’t just for kids anymore.  Today we have a wide range of puzzles around for our enjoyment.  I think mind games help with dementia and other brain diseases.  It’s so important to keep our minds sharp.

My mother suffers with dementia.  She seems to be getting worse with her memory as the weeks go by.  I’ve done a lot of reading on dementia and Alzheimer’s since her diagnosis.  One thing I know for sure is that I don’t want to get it.  I do my best to exercise my mind daily with reading, writing, puzzles, or anything else that will make me think.

My youngest sister does a lot of board puzzles.  She loves the most complicated ones with a thousand pieces.  These are probably her favorite puzzles and she has even framed a few of them.  I’ve known other people to put together and frame those big puzzles too.  They make beautiful wall art.




I have another sister who likes the crosswords.  I enjoy the ones full of random letters where you have to find the twenty words hidden in those letters.  I try to do several of those a week. 

I’m not sure if anyone in my family does the Sudoku puzzles with all the numbers.  I’ve done them, but they really are quite challenging.  I imagine, as with anything, one gets better with practice.

I don’t think anyone of us wants to end up with dementia or Alzheimer’s, but who knows what the future holds.   If it’s inherited, perhaps we’ll get it anyway no matter how much we use our minds.

8 comments:

  1. My mom did a lot of word search puzzles. She was sharp as a tack until 6 weeks before she passed when she got one ailment after another. She was 85. I too think it is important to exercise the mind.

    Betty

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    1. Betty,

      My mom is going to be 86 on May 1st. She's had dementia for at least 5 years now. She's had such a hard life. It all doesn't seem fair, but then sometimes that's the way things turn out.

      I do all sorts of things to exercise my mind. I want to make sure I stay sharp until the end, if I have anything to say about it.

      Sunni

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  2. I don't think it's inherited. I think it's environmental. Now, if we could just figure out what it is in the environment...

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    1. Liz,

      You really don't think it's inherited? I wonder what in the environmant causes it. I figured out of us seven kids at least one of us would end up with it. Hmmm. Maybe there's some hope that we won't.

      Sunni

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  3. My biggest one so far was 5000 pieces. It took me six weeks and one day to finish it. (I didn't work on it continuously though).
    I was going to put the finished product of it right here but it won't let me. Sis, our niece and another sister likes them as well.
    http://enchantedfantasies.blogspot.com/

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    1. Thea,

      Which other sister likes the jumbo board puzzles -
      Bonni? I know she likes crosswords and stuff. I know the bigger the better for you. LOL I've been hooked on those word search puzzles lately.

      Sunni

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  4. When I was traveling, I would always carry a couple of Dell puzzle magazines with me. They were great fun for killing time on planes and in hotel rooms. I used to do the crosswords in the Chicago Sun-Times on the bus in the morning and afternoon. Thursday was diagramless day, where they just give you the grid and you have to figure out where the black spaces went. I would do it in pen...

    I love sudoku and have apps on both my phone and Kindle Fire.

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    Replies
    1. John

      Wow! It sounds like you're into puzzles big time. That's great! Puzzles are a great way of killing time on plane trips and such. It sure beats waiting for the plane to land. When I go to visit my mon I intend to take some with me for the trip.

      Sunni

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Sunni