At first, my mother, the poet Anne Atik, had seemed just ordinarily confused. Then, very...
Category: Caregiving Relationships
Taking on care work responsibilities change all of our relationships, not only the relationship with the person we’re providing care for. Care work pushes us to re-prioritize our relationships, sometimes temporarily, sometimes forever.
Still Life
The doctor told Ann that John had severely damaged his spinal cord and was paralyzed from his neck...
Tethered to a ventilator for most of his life, how Ryan Lythall found his voice
His story? When Lythall was six-months-old, his mother, Irene, rushed him to CHEO where he had an...
In ‘Corsicana,’ Will Arbery Puts Art, Family and Down Syndrome Onstage
Arbery, who grew up in Dallas with seven sisters in a conservative Catholic milieu similar to that...
And So on and So Forth
The woman is my mother, who is 81 and losing her memory, the past dissolving each day like so many...
I’m a working mom and my 4-year-old son’s full-time medical caregiver. Here’s what life is like
As a full-time working mom and a full-time medical caregiver to my 4-year-old son, I have many...
‘It is all about raising the profile of carers’
It was early evening, and Rebekah Zammett was about to leave her north Oxfordshire home to work a...
New York Let Residences for Kids With Serious Mental Health Problems Vanish. Desperate Families Call the Cops Instead.
Taylor searched desperately for help, signing Amari up for therapy and putting her on waitlists...
Sabrina’s Parents Love Her. But the Meltdowns Are Too Much.
Sabrina, who was given a diagnosis of autism coupled with a rare genetic disorder, has exhibited...
How to Help Someone With Depression While Being Fair to Yourself
How much of yourself do you have to give to your partner in support, and what is the true cost if...
The #Midwessay: Sarah Cords, You Can’t Go Home Again
Just lately it is even harder to stay in my house, my geographical middle. This is because my...
My Autistic Brother And I
Being away from Casey after growing up with him for almost 20 years is difficult. I worry about...
The Caregivers
A few years into the illness, Janie could sense it worsening. Buzz, who had never yelled at her,...
Needing Each Other is Human
If your relationship is making both of you happier, then why is it wrong to need each other? How...
Can I Sever Ties With My Selfish Sister?
Several years ago, I told my sister that I wouldn’t be upset if we never spoke again. Recently her...
A Disability Day of Mourning: Remembering the Murdered and the Vulnerable
On March 1 every year, disability communities gather to mourn disabled people murdered by their...
Queen Latifah On Being Her Mom’s Caregiver: ‘I Would Just Want to Fall Apart’
On top of her work in entertainment, she’s also held the role of caregiver. In 2018, Latifah lost...
My dad now makes risky choices and I need to accept the role reversal
I pull up in front of the house, knowing Dad will not be waiting to greet me. Having trouble...
How to Coordinate a Parent’s Care With Siblings
When it becomes clear that an aging parent needs caregiving, it’s uncharted territory for adult...
I feel guilty for checking my mother into long-term care against her will
For close to two hours, my mom had stubbornly resisted our cajoling, pleading and arguing as we...
What the Conversation Around the “Great Resignation” Leaves Out
Since the beginning of the pandemic, one in five health care workers has left their job. They’ve...
When siblings become caregivers
All of Marlene’s children live within an hour of her Michigan home, yet Sheila, who lives the...
The “Chosen Family” Isn’t All It’s Cracked Up to Be
I was in my twenties the first time I heard the concept of the “chosen family,” and it’s hard to...
The Care Crisis Isn’t What You Think
What my research participant made clear to me that day is that the lack of robust and accessible...