DelMio Explorations
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Poems of Passion, Love, Life & Survival
Vanita Oelschlager’s book of poetry, Air Mask, began as a personal exercise just to serve as a sort of therapy for her long days as a caregiver for her husband, Jim. Jim has multiple sclerosis, but the issues a 
caregiver deals with are largely universal.
A friend read the poems and told her, “You have to share these with others.”
This Exploration, sponsored by Summa Health System, focuses largely on caregiving and caregivers. Vanita’s poetry speaks eloquently to the emotion and soul of the caregiver. DelMio and Summa aim to address education and support for caregivers, whether a wife, son, daughter, parent or sibling or friend. We invite you to browse throughout this Exploration, learn about MS and caregiving in general, relate your experiences on the interactive pages, exchange tips, and more.
Jim Oelschlager is the founder of Oak Associates, an investment firm in the Akron, Ohio, area. In addition to being Jim’s primary caretaker, Vanita assists him at his business and writes early in the morning.
Vanita is the author of My Grampy Can’t Walk and Jimisms. You can visit her Web site, www.vanitabooks.net or www.mygrampy.net/airmask.htm.
Vanita is nothing if not passionate. The title poem ought to illustrate that quite vividly. As her Web site describes, “MS is hard on everyone. The person who lives with the disease. And those who live with the person with the disease. Its toll on family caregivers can be especially hard. As a wife and caregiver, Vanita knows exactly how hard it can be. She’s captured those experiences and emotions in Air Mask, her first book of poetry.”
Vanita struggles with exhaustion, feeling guilty about making time for herself, understanding her husband’s frustration. She has a thing for Harley-Davidsons and whiskey, and her poems can be surprisingly intimate.
Her Web site says, “Air Mask is a record of trial and triumph, both Vanita’s and her husband’s. It reaches out to those who have been tested by the daily struggles of living with multiple sclerosis and other chronic diseases. Net proceeds from all sales will go to support MS-related research and programs.”
By the way, Jim is also the founder of the Oak Clinic, a center dedicated to helping those afflicted with MS.
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Whatever your situation — caring for someone with chronic disease or terminal illness — we hope that this presentation, combining Vanita’s personal journey with the educational resources of Summa Health System, helps make your personal journey a little more bearable. We invite you to share your own experiences with us by clicking on Your Page. Or ask us your questions, and an expert from Summa Health System will respond. If you’d like more specific information about other illnesses, tell us that too.
A Thousand Splendid Suns/
Kite Runner
Book Exploration
By Chuck Bowen
In his first novel The Kite Runner, and now A Thousand Splendid Suns, Khaled Hosseini writes about the Afghans caught in the middle of a seemingly endless string of wars and battles for power. Both novels paint a grim and moving picture of life in a war-torn country, and of lives lived in the face of hunger, death and a bleak future. Hosseini makes you realize that, even while bombs rain down and people are dying of hunger, people still fall in love, seek friends and, mostly, try to remain human.
