A Daughter's Stories About an Aging Parent: Sharing Tips & Facts Learned Along The Way
I really don’t know how to start this post except to say, it’s a pretty far left turn from my weekly stories. I recently learned that I have endometrial cancer. In what felt like a nanosecond, I was saying goodbye to my doctor as she referred me over to a gynecologic oncologist. In that initial…
In two days, it will be the seven month anniversary of the launch of my blog, and it’s been a remarkable seven months. I have gained a lot of knowledge about the topic of aging parents and I continue to learn how to share what I know through writing, listening and research. I’m definitely…
I posted a story several weeks ago which examined the question of when is it time to take over the finances of a parent? (For the previous story click here.) My 88-year-old mother Ginny had been exhibiting behavior from putting the wrong checks into the wrong utility envelopes, pulling out checkbook pages and writing out…
Read more Taking Over Your Parent’s Checkbook: One Fortunate Solution
Today started with a surprise phone call from Betsy. Betsy is my sister-in-law who has taken on the part-time job of driving my mom to appointments, the library, the grocery store etc. every week. She lives 15 minutes from my 88-year-old mother Ginny and my mother adores her. She’s been our godsend for about two…
Read more Is It Time Now? A Story About Decision-Making for an Aging Parent
November, 2018 As I shop for holiday presents this year for my 88-year-old mother Ginny, I’m thinking differently. In the past, I have always gotten her a personal gift like jewelry or a new shirt, as well as a gift card so she can pick something out for herself. She has an eye for fashion…
I saw my first television holiday ad last night. It was for World Market. I’ve also already received a couple of snowy catalogs dotted with cheerfully wrapped presents on the cover. Normally, I would do an eye-roll, but this year, I felt relief. That’s because I knew that I was doing something a little different…
I was online one morning, when I came across an interesting article titled “Handling Controlling Elderly Parents.” “Ha!” I thought half-jokingly. “Here’s my breakthrough guide to fix all of my control issues with my 89-year-old mother Ginny.” Very quickly, however, I wasn’t laughing. I was thinking. Hard. With some parents, an overly critical, authoritarian parenting…
This story begins three years ago, when my then 86-year-old mother Ginny called, quite excited. “Have you seen anything on the news?” “About what exactly mom?” I respond. “Well, I think I’m a finalist and will win a lot of money!” she shared. “What are you talking about? What money?” I ask, my heart beating…
Read more How Do You Control the Spending Habits of an Aging Parent?
In my last story, I shared how my mother Ginny’s best friend had given her an unexpected inheritance gift. She should be receiving that gift soon, and we remain grateful. It’s important, however, that we are responsible about how to manage the gift and dig into information regarding cash assets and how they relate, in…
Read more Figuring Out VA Benefits and an Inheritance: Our Story
I remain in a funny place after returning from Ann’s service in Minneapolis. Ann was my mother Ginny’s oldest friend who had recently passed. (Here is a link to that story. In an unexpected development, this is Part 2.) As I had mentioned, the service and weekend spent with her family had held many emotional…
