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    A friend wore a button like the one pictured above daily while caring for her dad. I think it was a stroke of genius! In doing so, she sent the following messages: Wayne is not just another si…

    A friend wore…

    A friend wore a button like the one pictured above daily while caring for her dad. I think it was a stroke of genius! In doing so, she sent the following messages: Wayne is not just another sick old man. He is my father and important to me. This was a pointed reminder for the many medical professionals she and Wayne  encountered. It’s easy for them to see patients as appointments to get through rather than humans striving to live the best quality of life as long as they can. It was a reminder to herself to be compassionate during the hardest days of caregiving. Now that he is gone,…

  We’ve all been there. At some point we’ve reached the end of our rope with our care recipients. We’ve rolled our eyes, made a face,  slammed a door, or even yelled at them. In some way, we …

  We’ve all been…

  We’ve all been there. At some point we’ve reached the end of our rope with our care recipients. We’ve rolled our eyes, made a face,  slammed a door, or even yelled at them. In some way, we exploded from anger or frustration. Then we feel guilty after losing our cool with our care recipients, aging parents, and/or other family members in our caregiving circle of support.  Aside from feeling remorse, what can we do to make amends after we’ve blown up at our loved one? How Can We Repair the Relationship?   Making up may be hard to do, but it’s possible. Here are several action st…

A girlfriend recently remarked, “I was trying to tell my sons a story about my parents, and found I just couldn’t remember the exact details. I wasn’t sure if I was telling the story right.” I…

A girlfriend recentl…

A girlfriend recently remarked, “I was trying to tell my sons a story about my parents, and found I just couldn’t remember the exact details. I wasn’t sure if I was telling the story right.” I knew exactly what she meant because I’ve also had that feeling of “Am I relaying this family story accurately?” Let’s admit it. Many of us are Baby Boomers and our memories aren’t quite as sharp as they used to be. Now that our parents are likely gone from this earth, we can’t ask them to please repeat those interesting or funny stories again. Record Your Care Recipients’ Stories  …

Baby Boomers are people born from 1946 to 1964, which includes me and probably many of you in our Tender Loving Eldercare community. According to a 2020 study by the Centers for Disease Control & Prev…

Baby Boomers are peo…

Baby Boomers are people born from 1946 to 1964, which includes me and probably many of you in our Tender Loving Eldercare community. According to a 2020 study by the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), Baby Boomers make up more than a third (38.5%) of all caregivers in the United States. The study also showed: They are more likely to be women (61.7%). They are more likely to be White (74%), compared to Black/African Americans (11%), Hispanic (9%), and Asians/Pacific Islanders (1%). More than half have been providing care for at least 2 years. More than one-quarter provide more tha…

An opinion piece in USAToday shared the story from an adult daughter and primary care physician, Dr. Bobbie Storment, whose mother was diagnosed with Stage 3 adenocarcinoma, metastatic cancer. Overnig…

An opinion piece in …

An opinion piece in USAToday shared the story from an adult daughter and primary care physician, Dr. Bobbie Storment, whose mother was diagnosed with Stage 3 adenocarcinoma, metastatic cancer. Overnight she became a Caregiver for her mother, who was also a retired family physician. Although they were both doctors, becoming a Caregiver and care recipient was unchartered territory and provided them with important new perspectives. Her story sheds light on many issues family caregivers face today. At the time of diagnosis, her mother lived in Detroit, MI and Storment was a long-distance Caregiver…