My father’s father talked to everyone, including the figurines on the sideboard, and he sometimes...
Category: Caring for a Parent
Book of Names
My mother has lived for 91 years, named and renamed by her mother and father and husband, logging...
How my mother and I became Chinese propaganda
As A.L.S. gradually paralyzed her, while leaving her intellect intact, our years were filled with...
What I wish I’d known
My 21-month caregiving ended a couple of months ago when my mother passed away. Since that time, I...
Living with My Mother’s Mental Illness
For my whole life I have lived in a family where transparency about my mother and her illness was...
Long haul through the deluge
I am a single mom caring for my semi-paralysed father in India and supporting my two sons. In...
My Mother Has Dementia. Here’s What I’ve Learned From Caring For Her For 8 Years.
I was 27 when I left my first full-time job to care for my mother when she was diagnosed with...
Caregiver — Don’t Cry Momma “Gone With The Wind”
It was a late October morning, 2005, and there was a crisp chill in the air. Couldn't decide if I...
How we dealt with uncertainty and a virus
How we dealt with uncertainty, And a virus in our life, For fifteen years. And emerged as...
I’m 25 and Taking Care of My Sick Dad. I’ve Never Felt Less Alone.
But unlike those who just moved home to wait out COVID-19, I’ve been home for the last two years....
Honor Thy Father
“I am in a bind. I have a problem and I need your help,” came the voice over the telephone. My...
Clocking In: ‘Would You Change My Mother’s Diaper for $10 an Hour?’
On a Tuesday in April, Michelle Walton woke up in Plantation, Florida, at eight. Her back hurt....
Clocking In: ‘Would You Change My Mother’s Diaper for $10 an Hour?’
On a Tuesday in April, Michelle Walton woke up in Plantation, Florida, at eight. Her back hurt....
Dealing With Caregiver Guilt During The Coronavirus Crisis
As a person caregivers regularly turn to for support, Carol Zernial would seemingly have answers...
“Did I Mess This Up?” A Father Dying From Coronavirus, a Distraught Daughter and a Midnight Rescue.
Terrified residents, families and staff of the Queens Adult Care Center have watched helplessly as...
Should You Bring Mom Home From Assisted Living During The Pandemic?
With the coronavirus moving through facilities that house older adults, families across the...
Isolation and ‘impossible choices’: When caregiving goes into lockdown
Even before the coronavirus, caregiving had become Sade Dozan’s every day. About a year and a half...
5 Things I Wish My Friends Knew About My Life as a Caregiver
It was 2003. I had just turned 16, and that was the summer my mom was diagnosed with ovarian...
What My Mom (And HIV) Taught Me About Caregiving
You don’t know what you’re really made of until you have to take care of someone you love while...
How to get siblings to step up and help
So often the duties of caregiving fall on a single family member, even when there are other people...
What obligation do we owe our shitty fathers as they age?
They may have been monsters when we were growing up. But now they’re old, frail and not long for...
Visiting My Sick Mom Could Put Her Life at Greater Risk. But How Many More Times Will I Get to See Her?
I live on the East Coast; my mother lives on the West. Sometime in the next couple of weeks, I...
What My Mom (And HIV) Taught Me About Caregiving
I was my 84-year-old mom’s live-in caregiver until her death last October. We shared a home for...
The Caregiver’s Encyclopedia
I'd just finished Muriel Gillick's Old and Sick in America, an eye-opening 'narrative tour' of the...