It’s true that I hate the thought of losing mom, but it’s unlike her to give up like this! tougher! What can I do to make her see that she needs to keep fighting? – BV Read more →

During the last few years of my caregiving, while my mother-in-law and my parents were still alive, my son was still having major health issues, and I was working full time, I read about the term “sandwich generation.” Read more →

How can faith help both caregivers and people with dementia get through something that makes no sense even to those who believe in a loving God - or maybe especially to those who believe in a loving God? Read more →

During the last few years of my caregiving, while my mother-in-law and my parents were still alive, my son was still having major health issues, and I was working full time, I read about the term “sandwich generation.” Read more →

I told her what has formed, over a period of time, my personal rule on this very common problem. Read more →

Nearly everyone involved in caring for aging loved ones is experiencing grief. Often, however, we don't identify it as grief. We have a parent who used to be strong and capable who begins to ask for a little assistance. No big deal, right? We're happy to help. Read more →

No one needs to die in pain. That is what the social worker told me as I signed the papers that would put my father on hospice care. That is the mantra of hospice, and it became my mantra as well. I had no choice but to believe it since my dad had suffered so much. Read more →

It’s difficult to watch our parents age. As their hair grays, wrinkles form and age spots multiply, we adult children can find ourselves feeling protective. We want to keep them healthy. Read more →

Mom is, for the most part, a good caregiver, but she’s resentful about what happened, and why wouldn’t she be? She has a right to these feelings except that her resentment shows through to Dad through her body language as well the tone of her voice, and from my observation, this increases Dad’s anxiety. Read more →

Often, however, if the death follows a long illness or significant pain, we can also feel a sense of relief that their suffering is over and we can get on with healing. It's often the in between time - the caregiving years - that is the most difficult to label. Read more →