#notoldjustolder

[bnejovi]

I was going through all my collection of clippings, magazines and books that I’ve collected over the past 30+ years and it occurred to me that kids today won’t know the fine line between the agony and ecstasy of waiting for new stuff from their favourite bands. When you used to have to wait for weeks, or longer being in Australia, for the latest edition of Metal Edge or Smash Hits etc to come out with new posters and pictures, articles or song words. Where you used to have to write in for competitions or to make a purchase. Oh and don’t get me started on Penpals - had 30 of them back in the 80’s, all on the go at the same time, all comparing collections, all handwritten and sending photos that we had to have developed. So you young ones that complain that someone has used a photo that took you hours to find...just spare a thought for the older generation of fans that had to do it the hard way. So here’s some pics from my collection for you to enjoy. @bonjovi @jonbonjovi @therealsambora @rockstarbaby_tt #davidbryan #alecjohnsuch #hughmcdonald #bonjovi #lovesofmylife💕 #yesmyhusbandknowsofmyobsession #notoldjustolder

[orientaltribe]

#Repost @andrea_groot with @get_repost ・・・ Nieuw ‘𝗢𝘂𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗺𝗲𝗶𝘀𝗷𝗲’ op de blog!! Vandaag geeft 𝗙𝗲𝗺 @eclectic_fem antwoord op de vragen! Het is een heel open blog geworden, fijn om meer te lezen over jou Fem ❤️ Dank voor je open hartigheid! 😘 Lezen? Via link in bio of Swipe up in stories! 🙌🏻 #notoldjustolder ⁣ ⁣ Vandaag een drukke dag met van alles en nog wat! 😁 Wat ga jij doen? Wat je ook gaat doen probeer te lachen ☺️ Scheelt. Echt! 😘 https://www.instagram.com/p/CEpCgGxA5nv/?igshid=vq7lvr476x75

[homesweethomewithkj]

All the time! I used to think it was funny that my dad would turn down the radio when he was lost. Now - I so get it! 🤣 #truth #realtorlife #notoldjustolder https://www.instagram.com/p/CCB9ITOpJ69/?igshid=1f9izhmgk3obu

[bjstuffs]

Reposted from @meikesesterhenn - Thank you guys for making my 40th Show another incredible memory which I will never forget! It felt sooooo good to be back! 💝 #bonjovi #bonjovimemories #bonjovidüsseldorf #jonbonjovi #justhappy #stillgotit #iwantmore #flashed #frontofstage #notoldjustolder #neversaygoodbye - #regrann https://www.instagram.com/p/BzfwIA9BT8m/?igshid=irjwjwfj25q1

[notoldjustolderpart2-blog]

So I’ve been on a fairly long hiatus.

Just when you think life can’t get any more difficult to navigate, you sometimes get thrown a curve ball without any warning.

I know you can all relate. Different reasons but we are all given these tests throughout our life.

As Jon would say, “Life ain’t a merry go round, it’s a roller coaster...”

So my roller coaster took a dive about two weeks before my vacation in November when my Mom caught the flu from her caregiver who thought it was okay to come to work with an elderly person who has a compromised immunity system. Within a couple of days Mom was sick enough to have to be sent to the hospital against her loud protests, where they advised us the infection had worked fast and would have killed her if left much longer.

It was a wake up call.

Her dementia had been increasing for awhile and we knew her mobility was decreasing at a fairly quick pace. Her caregivers were struggling with assisting her during everyday tasks. (Note: Stay fit girls. Exercise and watching your weight may mean the difference between being able to dance to your Bon Jovi tunes in later years or being stuck bedridden hoping someone will even turn your stereo on for you. ) My family and I had been faced with the possibility she might have to go to a facility but I had been hanging onto hope that we could keep her home for at least one more Christmas.

Due to this near death experience my family and I had to make the hard decision to seek out care for my Mom in a Care Facility where they could better meet her needs. I won’t lie. This has been a horrific journey. It’s the worst decision I have ever had to make in my life.  I struggle with guilt everyday. I truly had thought I could keep my Mom at home until the end of her life and I have great difficulty dealing with the emotions resulting from my failure to do so.

To be fair, it is a pretty good facility. The caregivers are kind but overworked. The sad reality I discovered when seeking out care was that when a person reaches the stage my Mom is at, there is not many options. It wasn’t even based on how much money we had to spend because she has a fair amount and I was willing to spend it all on her. Sadly, the “fancy” facilities are not available to people requiring round the clock nursing care. It has been explained to us repeatedly, that we were very lucky to get her into a government run facility because in the private facilities there is a lot less monitoring and they are less likely to meet the standards a government facility is held to. It is also close to home. We had been warned she could have been placed a very long distance away and the closest private care facility that I could find that would take her was almost a 40 minute commute from our home. So I guess we are lucky that it is a five minute drive or 15 minute walk allowing us to visit frequently if not daily.

But it is not home. Far from it. Mom has been very good about the whole thing. Much better than I could ever have imagined. She is still lucid enough to have recognized that the in home caregivers could not continue to meet her increasing needs. Since my brother, family and I visit a lot it has lessened the blow. However, the indignities of being washed and diapered by men will never get easier. It breaks my heart for her. A modest woman who only ever slept with one man, now forced to allow strangers who are men, take care of her most personal needs. I could cry just thinking about how brave she is.

So this has been a very hard adjustment for us all. My days now start at 4:30a.m. I try to get the housework done that I used to do after work and gather up anything I need to take to my Mom during our visit in the afternoon. If I’m lucky I can squeeze in a shower and then I’m at work by 7:15 and try to get out by 2:30 so I can sub my brother off and visit my Mom for about an hour and a half before the “sundowners” sets in. If you are not familiar with that term it means the time of day when people who have dementia start to get agitated. Somewhat like small children, around 4:30 they get angry. A visit can go from heartwarming to hostile in about 10 minutes. Mom can be her lucid self telling you how much she loves you and then start trying to pick a fight with the same unfortunate soul who is visiting. She also experiences delusional thoughts at that time of day. She may think my Dad or Grandma are still alive. She begins dwelling on all her worst memories from the past. It is very sad and hard to take so I try to get out of there before it takes over. From there I go home assist with making dinner or skip it altogether. My daughter and I try to opt for the gym at least every other night so I don’t end up like this. Home again by 8:30pm I usually pass out about 10 minutes into a show I was sure I wanted to watch.

Next day repeat.

That is my life now. Not much time for Tumblr or the Fbook or anything really.

So that is why I have not been on here much. Only sneaking in to see the current news... “Thank you Lydia! You always keep me up to date :)”

Tbh I hate going to the Bon Jovi tag now. It takes so long to find anything current. Mostly just those questionnaire things where people randomly mention Living On A Prayer or You Give Love A Bad Name in their favorite old 80′s tunes or playlists.

So much has changed in a year. 

Happy to see some of us are still here. I will be in and out as I can. Just know you guys brighten up my day even when it’s only by catching a glimpse of one of your photos or amazing gifs :)

Maybe we could start a new tag that would help us to find our posts without all that extra crap?

I suggest “bonjovifamily”  ;)

This House Is Not For Sale  ♥♥♥

[gwdeni-blog]

All the times that I've cried Keeping all the things I knew inside It's hard, but it's harder to ignore it If they were right I'd agree But it's them they know, not me Now there's a way #notoldjustolder (at Pasar Mitra Raya-Batam Center)

[stormwatcher05]

A little collage of the past 43 years ☺️ #notoldjustolder #2moredays #43 🎁🎈🎂🎊🎉

[missy80s]

Jon Bon Jovi wearing a Guardian Angels t-shirt. I L-O-V-E this old pic 💋

📸: @notoldjustolder (I tried to find this one to reblog, but there were just too many awesome photos and gifs... It might've taken me a few days to find this one because I kept getting happily distracted ☺️. I hope this mention will suffice 🌹

[tas2109]

Happy Birthday Pappou! 🎂🎁🎉 78 years young! #happybirthday #notoldjustolder

[bnejovi]

Bon Jovi Challenge Day 29 - The Reasons You Love Bon Jovi. They are my happy place! Pure and simple! I don’t listen to the radio anymore, I listen to my Jovi playlists, I have more picture on my phone of them than I do of my own children, my husband knows that I’d throw him over in a flash if Jon just turned his cobalt blue eyes my way (wishful thinking, sure, I’m not totally crazy!). I’ve grown up with them and now grow grey with them. I will always be heartsick that Richie is no longer standing beside his brothers on stage, but I am thankful that we haven’t lost him completely like John Lennon, Hendrix, Prince, George Michael, and a whole plethora of awesome talent no longer walking this earth. Sorry, just realised how long this was 🤦🏼‍♀️😆 @erikajovi #BonJovi #bonjoviforever #lovesofmylife💕 #yesmyhusbandknowsofmyobsession #notoldjustolder #emotionalrightnow😢 #shouldn’tdothisbeforecoffee #toomanyreasons

[notoldjustolderpart2-blog]

What have you got if you ain’t got Bon Jovi?

How the hell is everyone!?!

[loopyloujovi]

Me like having the girls back on here at the same time; Kristin, Lydia, Nina and Gayle. Been a while...

[confessionsofabonjovifan]

I think Jon looks great. 

20′s, 30′s, 40′s, 50′s... 

The difference between Jon and “his many peers” who dye their hair, grow it out long like it’s still the eighties and wear spandex is that he is a classy guy who does not want to or need to try to hold onto the past.

He’s content and happy with who he is now. He should be commended for that in a world where people mutate themselves trying to live up to societies standards of “how we should look.”

The joke about it all is that if he did go back to dying his hair, adding hair and got “work done” to look younger, he’d be ridiculed for those actions as well.

Oh Jon. Them damn critics. 

Can’t people just love you for who you are?

People who can’t accept the unavoidable realities of aging have a very harsh wake up call coming their way.

                                             Submitted by Notoldjustolderpart2

[someday-ill-be-saturday-nite]

So…remember a while back I was telling you about my drunken stalker photos & video from a Soul game back in 2007? Me & my friend got very drunk (which is why I had the balls to do this) and snuck into (it may have been more like broke into…but whatever) the box next to Jon’s owner box. I tried to be nonchalant & sneak a few photos- then I pulled the video camera out. Lol. This was before cell phones took videos. I had an old school video camera. Nonchalant my ass! Jon SO knew…

Anyway- my friend found the photos.. She’s still searching for the video though. Fingers crossed she finds it! I lost it when my laptop died years ago 😠

Enjoy the photos. They aren’t such good quality…but all that separated me from Jon was that half wall. And it was one hell of a fun night!

I think we were talking about this before, Gayle?