Dementia Care Stories: Our Journey

I first encountered fireflies during the Memory Bridge Retreat in the United States. As dusk settled each evening, tiny lights appeared in the darkness. Individually they were small. Together, they transformed the landscape.

That experience stayed with me.

Over more than three decades working across nursing, recreation therapy, and dementia care, I've come to realise that the moments that shape us are rarely the dramatic ones.

More often they are quiet.

A conversation at the end of a shift.

A familiar song.

A shared laugh.

A different way of seeing.

Like a firefly, these moments can seem fleeting. Yet they often illuminate something we hadn't noticed before.

Follow the Firefly began from that simple realisation.

It is a place to collect stories, reflections and ideas that invite us to pause, notice and connect more deeply with one another.

Some stories begin with dementia care.

Others begin in music, travel, family or everyday life.

They all explore the same question:
What changes when we choose to see differently?

Because sometimes the smallest light is enough to help us find our way.