What my research participant made clear to me that day is that the lack of robust and accessible...
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.
How My Father Escaped Jail for Christmas
My mother and father never married. This meant, as my mother explained, that I was his legal next...
When My Wife Developed Alzheimer’s, the Story of Our Marriage Kept Us Connected
In December 2012, at age sixty-one, Judy received a diagnosis of early onset Alzheimer’s. The news...
A hospital offered a payment plan for baby’s NICU stay — $45,843 a month for a year
Under the 2010 health law, nonprofit hospitals are required to provide financial assistance to...
The Art of Disability Parenting
Robert has cerebral palsy, and he has weathered multiple complications in his seven years. I don’t...
What if There’s No Such Thing as Closure?
[Pauline] Boss, an emeritus professor of family social science — the study of families and close...
United in Grief: Two Widow’s Perspectives
The first months after our partners passed away, we saw all the survival mechanisms we didn’t know...
Things I’ll Do Differently When I’m Old
Soon after my 50th birthday, 10 years ago, I started keeping a list of “Things I will do/things I...
Churn
Nobody just “stops by” this house. My mother won’t let anyone she knows come near the outside,...
Sandwich Generation: How Do You Decide Whose Needs Come First?
Your parents need your help right now, and so do your adult kids. But what about saving for your...
Wash
She showers once a week, and for the next six weeks—approximately four months into our new...
Some young adults with disabilities are stuck in long-term care. They say that’s discrimination.
For the past decade, [Victoria] Levack has lived, reluctantly, at the Arborstone Enhanced Care...
Friend to healthcare worker
I am currently helping friends with their severely disabled child. The child needs round-the-clock...
Should I Help My Aging, Ailing Dad Access His Toxic Web Feed?
My father and I have not been especially close for all of my adult life because of his inability...
Queer Millennials Are Becoming Family Caregivers. We Aren’t Ready
The ache of watching a loved one grow smaller was hard enough. But I also wasn’t prepared for the...
Beyond Britney: Abuse, Exploitation, And Death Inside America’s Guardianship Industry
BuzzFeed News has scoured hundreds of thousands of court documents, obtained confidential mental...
Caring and Grieving in the Shadow of COVID
When my mother had brain surgery to remove a tumor in May 2020, I thought that was the most...
The surprising relationships we carry
I received a disturbing phone call last week just as I sat down to write the latest newsletter. An...
My Stepdad Has Alzheimer’s. Can My Mom Date Someone Else?
What are your thoughts on the spouse of an early-onset Alzheimer’s patient dating while said...
Healthy Helping for Family Caregivers of Senior Parents
Gerontologists and psychology of aging experts say that “aging well” in your 60s and 70s is about...
The staggering, exhausting, invisible costs of caring for America’s elderly
Some older adults have diligently prepared for their future. They purchased long-term care...
Children With Disabilities Need Sex Ed Too
Currently, only three states in the country explicitly include special ed students in their sex-ed...
A Mother’s Steely Portraits of Her Daughter’s Life with Down Syndrome
For as long as Grevenitis can remember, being in public with Lulu has brought about a less welcome...
What I’ve Learned Over a Lifetime of Caring for the Dying
Some of the hardest conversations I have in my work involve telling families managing the...