Our Real-Life Elder Care Diary...
We’re Marianne and Ken Smith. At the time we began this Elder Care Diary Blog, we had three
frail, elderly parents (See About Our Family) living with us in our home for four years, and the challenges
grew every day.
An accident in which Marianne’s father fell and broke his leg
had created a whirlwind of coping, soul-searching, researching and action to
deal with our elder care challenges.
Part Therapy... Part Responsibility
We decided to post this Diary Blog now exactly as it was written in real-time between 2007 and 2013 (Marianne wrote the posts and Ken edited) to
provide some perspective on this process of caregiving for aging parents– how we tried our
best to do what’s right, how we failed, occasionally had a small victory, an
occasional cry and an occasional great day – but always trying our best to be
good children, good mates, good parents and good grandparents.
The Power of PLANNING
Our core motivation in writing this book was to strongly advocate for thoughtful and proactive PLANNING for potential elder care issues. Trying to do it while you are in the middle of the trauma of constant challenges is not fun. And it is not effective. We made so many mistakes and missed so many opportunities to do it better because we were so rushed, inexperienced and psychologically overwhelmed.
Invest the time NOW to do your research, talk to professionals, talk to other family members about how responsibilities would be divided up, anticipate the financial challenges and look for government, community and insurance support services that can mitigate the burden.
Plan NOW
The more effectively you plan now, the more opportunity you have to focus on the love that most comforts an elderly parent, and enables you to find fulfillment in the caregiving experience.
We hope you will provide feedback, comments,
suggestions and share with others your caregiving experiences and feelings.
Those of us who were or are in this place share a common
bond. And our ranks are growing
rapidly.
Marianne & Ken Smith