A Story of Being Human: Love Carries You Through

We’ve been in this house for 40 years. You can’t tell now, but we’re gardeners. Everything around this whole house blooms. And we have a big vegetable garden, green beans and purple beans, cucumbers, eggplant. Now Steve does a lot of it. He had to take over for me. Steve does everything. He does everything...

What Happens Next?

We all know that life is fragile. You hit a point in life where you see that not only is your own life fragile but so is the life of those you love and adore. Those who have cared for you and now need care themselves. With this, comes the creeping silence of not wanting...

When the care stops, who steps in?

USA Today recently highlighted a Reno Gazette Journal piece by Mark Robison that brought to light a troubling truth that no one talks about...many adults with severe intellectual disabilities have nowhere to go when family can no longer care for them. Despite some progress made over the past several decades, the United States remains woefully...

A lifetime of waiting…

For more than 60 years I have watched my younger sister diligently work to gain each skill that did not come naturally to her. As she laid in her crib or on the couch or carpet watching me zoom around the house, as most seven year olds do. She was born in fall, so life...

National Family Caregivers Month: It’s time to ‘put our money where our mouth is’

Since 1994 our nation has celebrated and honored family caregivers in November. For good reason. There are currently more than 53 million of us providing hours of UNPAID care, everyday, to our aging parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, as well as adult children, siblings or other family members with disabilities. AARP estimates that the value...

Caregiving: The subtle line between protectiveness and dominance

This article was written with permission after discussions with a family caregiver who coordinates care for his aging sibling with a lifelong disability. He wishes to remain anonymous. At what point does protectiveness become dominance? When does intervening in a person's life become authoritarian? When does a person begin to lose their power, and, more...