RHG Magazine & TV Guide Spring 2019 | Page 25

Meet Dr. A “Virginia” Davis, Inspiration and Author

Here's another inside peek into the life of one of our experts who is impacting her world! Virginia's goal is to inspire people to reflect on the positive things that have occurred in their life and to use their faith and humor to empower them with courage to move on from the past and look toward the future. One of her mottos is to "Always try to remember the power of love when dealing with any situation."

Let's hear a bit more about her and her forthcoming book...

~Share something you are passionate about:

My passion is to assist others when they are dealing with difficult situations. Caring for a love one that has Alzheimer or any serious illness can be overwhelming. Having to parent your own parent can be heartbreaking because you have lost the person you knew and now have to deal with someone new. The things that helped me were the memories of my mother so lovingly caring for me all my life. Each time I would look in her face during her sickness, I saw a frightened face of someone who dedicated her life to loving me and this enabled me to care for her with much love and compassion. It was at times extremely difficult to deal with the new personality. There were periods of many tears.

~What are some ways you are helping to bring this forward in the world?

Critical for me is making myself available to support others in need during these times. Also, sharing my personal story,

being a shoulder to rest on, and offering a helping hand. I encourage the caretaker to seek professional support. Times like these may awaken emotional issues that may be known or unknown, lying dormant for years and professional help can be a life saver.

~Describe something our readers today can look forward to discovering in your book, Mom, Virginia Killed Preacher:

My mom had Alzheimer and

accidently, during one of her crying spells, I mention an event where the preacher came to visit us when I was a child and the funny events that occurred during this visit. Mom spoke, “I remember that” and she smiled. I used childhood and historical family events

(turn to page 27 to finish Virginia's story!)

to communicate with her during this period of her illness. These stories offered brief moments when we were in the same time period and we could briefly communicate. These were special moments. There were other times when she would suddenly appear alert and asked about certain family members and in a flash she was mentally gone . I remember once when she was alert, I asked her where was dad. He had died years ago. She responded that she wondered about him often and she was sure he must be dead because he would come and help her if he could.