As my mom lay in the cardiac intensive care unit after her 5 way bypass, she suffered three strokes. They impaired her vision and affected her balance. Supporting herself as a graphic designer was no longer possible. Her life was turned completely upside down. And the effects rippled out to the rest of us. As […]
Nonfiction Book Review: Caring for Your Aging Parents
In just 6 weeks, Mom went from an active working woman in her early sixties, taking care of Dad, to a bed-ridden stroke survivor with diabetes and vision loss. The months following this sudden change were stressful for the whole family as we all grappled with this new reality while also grieving Dad’s passing. As […]
Vacation Preparations: A Short Story
New bellman Maurice encounters a resourceful guest with a mysterious tote bag. What’s in the bag and who is she? Maurice stood catching his breath at the bell stand and watched the people outside the glass lobby doors. Any minute now one or two or a group of people would enter the lobby corralling baggage […]
Caregiver: Call Me
Call me caregiver. Call me watcher and waiter and sitter and maker of circles of care. Call me at night and at work and at home about transfusions and treatments and transition. Call me medicine giver, aid giver, advice giver taking notes, taking charge, taking the reins by storm. Call me armed with compassion and […]
The Top 8 Books I Read When My Life Fell Apart: A Short Somewhat Story
Some years of your life are great. Lots of big things happen – you get a new job, you go on a great vacation, and a new baby is born into the family (not your baby, but still its cool). Other years, a sad thing happens. That was the year your grandmother died. Or that […]
Caregiving: Crazy-making and Self-defining
I confess, caregiving is hard. This probably isn’t a surprise. Anyone typing “caregiving” into Google already knows it’s hard. Or maybe fears it will be. It can also be fulfilling and life-altering and horrible and ruin your health. All your health – physical, mental, emotional, relationships. Caregiving is hard in the way that planning a […]
Nonfiction Book Review: Passages in Caregiving by Gail Sheehy
Author Gail Sheehy is a literary journalist and her earlier book, New York Times Bestseller Passages, is about the major milestones and common experiences of our 20s, 30s, 40s, etc. In Passages in Caregiving, Sheehy recounts the years she cared for her husband, legendary magazine editor Clay Felker (founder of New York magazine, among other […]