There is healing in returning to our mother/daughter roles. Mom recently turned 85. I hesitated before suggesting that we have a little gathering for her birthday. After all, this is the woman who was mad when dad threw her a surprise party with invitations that read: “Help Doris celebrate the 6th anniversary of her 39th birthday”. When I mentioned I was glad she wanted to … [Read more...]
How Do You Determine Which Assisted Living Facility Is For You?
What questions should you ask? Monthly room and board is by far your largest assisted living expense. Private rooms (Studio's) come in different sizes, the larger the studio the higher the cost. Typically, all rooms have kitchenettes and handicap accessible bathrooms with shower benches. (Jump to Lessons Learned) Here are some examples of typical monthly room and board … [Read more...]
Alzheimer’s and Dementia Support for Family Caregivers
What is available? Did you know that in the United States today 3.7 million people with dementia live at home and are cared for by family members? (source: Johns Hopkins Medicine) (Jump to Lessons Learned) Caring for a person with dementia often involves a myriad of responsibilities, including daily ongoing personal care, medication management, filling the day with … [Read more...]
Grief Is A Personal Journey
There is no right or wrong way to grieve. Update note: Grief is a topic I have written about before and this post is from the 2nd anniversary of dad’s death. But this week we lost one of my father’s siblings and it was like losing him all over again. One more tie to the person I loved is gone and I’m grieving the loss of our beloved family member, that tie to dad and of … [Read more...]
Caregiving is an Emotional Journey
Not all the emotions are pretty. When I started on this caregiving journey, panic was the overwhelming emotion. Panic was soon joined by feeling overwhelmed. Overwhelmed by all the decisions that had to be made and all the choices in front of us. Which one was best? Was it the right one physically, emotionally, financially for mom? At that point what I needed didn’t even … [Read more...]