Happy Healthy Caregiver

Happy Healthy Caregiver Logo
Menu

losing a parent

My BIG takeaway from my first family caregiver support meeting

Caring for an aging parent, Support System

I’m not my mom and my mom isn’t me.

Profound, right?  I thought so.  This simple statement slapped me upside the head when I heard this from Dawn, the owner and creator of a nonprofit organization called ALOHA (A Life Of Healthy Aging).  Dawn’s organization visits my mom’s new assisted living community monthly to offer support to resident’s families.

Dawn followed this statement with a question: ‘who is your mom?’ and challenged me to find out.  I definitely know who I want her to be – I want her to be me!  But, even though she has been my mom for 44 years, I still have some detective work to do in order to answer this question. 

My BIG takeaway from my first family caregiver support meeting Read More »

Top 10 reasons We Chose Mom’s Assisted Living Community

Caring for an aging parent

First, let me start by saying that there is no perfect assisted living.  Afterall, I don’t know of one person who has  chosen to live their twilight years in an assisted living.  The phrase assisted living simply means you have lost partial control of your daily activities.

When we started looking for an assisted living last summer, my dad was in the hospital and we were focused on a place for a couple.  Frankly, we didn’t know the timing or the details, but we were confident that my dad was no longer going to be able to help care for my mom and my brother and that they needed to be closer to family.  

Top 10 reasons We Chose Mom’s Assisted Living Community Read More »

How to have ‘the talk’ with your Parents about moving in to an Assisted Living community

Caring for an aging parent

The reality is that I had several talks with my parents encouraging them to simplify their lives by downsizing and finding a place where life could be easier for them.

Sadly, I feel that I have been grieving my parents for over a decade.  They had been slowly killing themselves with complications from morbid obesity and diabetes.  It’s been devastating to watch and frustrating to witness the pain their addictions with food and sedentary lifestyles have caused themselves and their families.

How to have ‘the talk’ with your Parents about moving in to an Assisted Living community Read More »

Medicinal Writing

Mental Growth & Hobbies

There are lots of things I love about my 77 year old mother and a few big things I’d love to change.

Once I came back from the hair salon with my haircut shorter than usual.  My husband commented that I was looking more and more like my mom.  I freaked out!  My mom used to say that when she was my age she started gaining weight and falling apart.  This frightened me.  My mom is morbidly obese, has type II diabetes, relies on personal assistance for most everything and her mobility is limited with a walker.  Her mind is still great – thank God!  So you see, hearing that you are looking more and more like your mom…isn’t music to my ears.

Medicinal Writing Read More »

Scroll to Top