Posted in Alzheimer's, USA Today, aging, amazon, book club, book reviews, books, boomer women, care partner, care receiver, caregiver, caregiver stress, caregiving, children, dark humor, daughters, dementia, eldercare, elderly, emotional, family, family caregiving, geriatrics, guilt, humor, inspirational, jealousy, joy and purpose, kunati, law of attraction, library, mothering, mothers, oprah, parenting, relationships, sandwich generation, seniors, women, women's health on March 31, 2008 | No Comments »
“We’re Not That Close:” Celebrations for Relationship Challenged Mothers and Daughters How do you celebrate Mother’s Day (or birthdays and other special days) if your relationship is less than perfect?
Plan an activity: go to the zoo, a concert, a spa day, or a play—doing something is a good way to avoid getting into sticky issues
Keep [...]
Read Full Post »
Posted in Uncategorized on March 29, 2008 | No Comments »
If I live as long as my mother did (she passed away at the age of 92 of Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s), thar would make me officially half her age.
That means I’m halfway done. Yikes!
I feel like I just got to my birthday party and I’ve been told I have to go take my bath and go to [...]
Read Full Post »
Posted in Alzheimer's, Barnes & Noble Bookstores, USA Today, adult day cares, aging, amazon, authors, book reviews, books, boomer women, boomers, care partner, care receiver, caregiver, caregiver stress, caregiving, community care, dark humor, daughters, death, dementia, depression, eldercare, elderly, emotional, end of life, family caregiving, geriatrics, global healthcare, golden years, grieving, guilt, health, healthcare, heart disease, hospital, humor, inspirational, kunati, law of attraction, marketing, marriage, medicine, memoir, mid-life crisis, mothering, mothers, nerves, neurological disorders, pallative care, parenting, psychologists, relationships, sandwich generation, spiritual, teenagers, the secret, usatoday, van gogh, violence, will to live, women, women's health, writing on March 27, 2008 | 3 Comments »
The latest stats released by the Alzheimer’s Association paint a grim picture.
USA Today reported that ten million are expected to get Alzheimer’s over the next 2 decades.
Most boomers I know are a bit stunned. 1 in 8 will get Alzheimer’s.
I started bunching people I know in eights. Terrible, I know.
My husband has 8 siblings. Which [...]
Read Full Post »
Posted in Alzheimer's, aging, authors, book reviews, books, boomer women, care partner, care receiver, caregiver, caregiver stress, caregiving, dark humor, daughters, death, dementia, depression, dying, eldercare, elderly, emotional, end of life, family caregiving, geriatrics, guilt, health, healthcare, hospice, hospital, humor, inspirational, media, mid-life crisis, pallative care, parenting, parents, prayer, relationships, sandwich generation, senior care, seniors, spiritual, women, women's health on March 26, 2008 | 1 Comment »
It’s a difficult day: the day you’re cutting pills, changing sheets, and you realize your loved one is acting even more formal, more distant than usual.
You realize they no longer know who you are.
You can tell. It’s happened before, but you wonder if this is permanent.
Maybe you think back and realize it’s been awhile, and yes, [...]
Read Full Post »
Posted in Uncategorized on March 25, 2008 | 2 Comments »
Sibling issues is one of the toughest aspects to caregiving.
You already feel like you’re losing your parent–Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, cancer, heart disease. That’s enough of a battle.
Yet, so many, many families are torn apart because of the conflicts caregiving brings.
If you’re the primary caregiver, you may feel resentment toward your “free” sibling who works, goes to [...]
Read Full Post »
Posted in Alzheimer's, Barnes & Noble Bookstores, Daddy, aging, authors, books, boomer women, care partner, care receiver, caregiver, caregiving, daughters, death, dementia, eldercare, elderly, emotional, end of life, family caregiving, geriatrics, grieving, healthcare, hospice, hospital, humor, inspirational, kunati, law of attraction, memoir, mothering, pallative care, parenting, publishing, relationships, sandwich generation, senior care, spiritual, spring, writing on March 23, 2008 | 3 Comments »
Today is my mother’s birthday. Day after the first day of spring.
I never forget it. Or Daddy’s. I never forget their anniversary, it’s as much a part of me as my children’s birth dates (and I was there for that!). It’s programmed into my psyche. My heart, body and spirit remembers before my mind does.
Our body clocks, [...]
Read Full Post »
Posted in Alzheimer's, Barnes & Noble Bookstores, Daddy, USA Today, adult day cares, affection, aging, amazon, authors, books, bookstores, boomer women, cancer, care partner, care receiver, caregiver, caregiver stress, caregiving, cats, church, community care, dark humor, daughters, death, dementia, depression, diabetes, doctors, dying, elder driving, eldercare, elderly, emotional, end of life, family caregiving, finances, geriatrics, global healthcare, grieving, guilt, healthcare, hospice, hospital, humor, inspirational, internet, law of attraction, memoir, mid-life crisis, neurological disorders, pallative care, pets, psychologists, publishing, relationships, sandwich generation, senior care, spiritual, women's health, writing on March 20, 2008 | 4 Comments »
Caregiving is complex.
Many family situations are a continuation of a long, tangled history.
There are stubborn siblings, financial headaches, cantankerous parents, emotional memories kicked back up, frustrating home heath aides, and confusing health insurance concerns. This is just the surface–throw in worries like a naked, wandering Alzheimer’s loved one, your mother feels cheated on (or is [...]
Read Full Post »
Posted in Uncategorized on March 20, 2008 | 2 Comments »
I read the book, Discover Your Strengths, Now by Marcus Buckingham and Clifton Davis and I absolutely agree.
Why do we even try to be balanced? Even in elementary school, you can see which children are artistic or musically inclined (that’s when they actually had arts in the school), others were athletically gifted, some were great spellers, [...]
Read Full Post »
Posted in Alzheimer's, Barnes & Noble Bookstores, USA Today, adult day cares, aging, amazon, authors, book reviews, books, boomer women, boomers, care partner, care receiver, caregiver, caregiver stress, caregiving, church, community care, dementia, eldercare, elderly, emotional, end of life, family caregiving, healthcare, home passing, hospice, inspirational, kunati, media, memoir, mothering, mothers, neurological disorders, psychologists, publishing, relationships, sandwich generation, senior care, seniors, women's health on March 19, 2008 | 4 Comments »
Four million people in the US have Alzheimer’s today, and according to a new study printed in the USA Today Health Section on March 17, 14 million boomers are expected to get Alzheimer’s.
Astronomical growth rate, but unless there’s a cure, that will be the new reality in 20-25 years. After the age of 65, [...]
Read Full Post »
Posted in Alzheimer's, aging, amazon, book reviews, books, bookstores, boomer women, care partner, care receiver, caregiver, caregiver stress, caregiving, children, dark humor, daughters, dementia, depression, eldercare, elderly, emotional, family, family caregiving, florida, geriatrics, healthcare, home passing, hospice, humor, inspirational, intimacy, memoir, menopause, mothering, mothers, movies, neurological disorders, oprah, prayer, psychologists, sandwich generation, seniors, spiritual, teenagers, walking, women's health, writing on March 17, 2008 | 1 Comment »
I received a great email the other day from Gourete, and she used the term, “Rabid Caregiver.”
I had to laugh! I thought of the sign you put on a chain link fence: “Guard Dog: Beware.”
Even if you didn’t see a dog, you were expecting a vicious Rottweiler to leap out and show his foaming, gnarling [...]
Read Full Post »
