Well, I thought that, given the support of my two parents throughout my years of blog writing on As Our Parents Age, I would keep writing until the end of their lives. However, it was not to be. I found that I wanted to protect them and help them live their last years in private. … Continue reading
Filed under moving parents …
My Parents’ Move to Assisted Living
When my elderly parents, both in their 90s, moved into an assisted living community, the decision process and the move itself were arduous. In their nineties and married for nearly 70 years, they needed more support, although they did not see it that way. It was common for me to discover medicines not taken, mail … Continue reading
Replacing a Nursing Community with Green Houses: Part II
Ideas about changing the nursing care at Virginia Mennonite Retirement Community (VMRC) began when carpets were replaced in one of the memory neighborhoods. For several days residents with memory disabilities spent their waking hours visiting a more home-like assisted living area. The caregivers immediately spotted a change — people from the memory neighborhood were more … Continue reading
Caregiving: How One Couple Avoided Burnout
… by trying to work together During three years of caring for a senior parent, my husband and I took many steps to ensure that neither of us would shoulder too many burdens, lose too much sleep, or just reach a point where one of us ran out of steam. We knew that any one … Continue reading
Aging Parents: Washington Post Caregiving-Financing Series
This past Sunday personal finance columnist, Michelle Singletary, wrote about her introduction to aging parent/adult child caregiving, explaining how her father-in-law, in his 80’s, requires daily assistance and has moved in with his children (her family). Writing in the May 16, 2010 Washington Post, Singletary explores the challenges that exist for her and members of … Continue reading
As Our Parents Age So Do We 