Just lately it is even harder to stay in my house, my geographical middle. This is because my...
Category: Caring for a Parent
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...
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...
When siblings become caregivers
All of Marlene’s children live within an hour of her Michigan home, yet Sheila, who lives the...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
A moment that changed me: my mother died – and I became my brother’s legal guardian
It was in Stansted airport’s Pink Elephant car park that I realised all the adults were going...
My Mother, Before She Drank
My older sister and I eventually decided to involve our aunt to help figure out a way to save her....
My Aging Parents Need Parenting
I’m in my 30s and live about a three-hour drive from my 60-year-old parents—we once used to live...
Don’t Let a Loved One’s Health Problems Come Between You
I’ve seen people with difficult-to-manage physical and mental health conditions (or hard-to-break...
Why Are Boomer Parents Always Withholding Important Family News?
The only time Taylor has ever felt her mother withheld information from her was when doctors found...
The Crisis in Home Care
Kara Ward started her life as a caregiver earlier than most people do. She was only 29 when her...
Chinese Cooking Helps Me Connect With My Mother—And Helps Me Prepare to Lose Her
The words that I could not bring myself to admit bubbled to the surface: I have been preparing for...