Elder Care ABC Created by caregivers for caregivers

by Christy Cuellar-Wentz
I was hugely uncomfortable, a week overdue with my first child.  Almost everybody sensed that this was a delicate time in my life, one requiring sensitivity and support.  Everyone except my grandparents, who were calling hourly with assorted problems, demanding to know when my mother could come back and tend to their needs [...]

There is nothing like the companionship of a four legged friend to ease my mind and quiet my soul.  I’m dedicating this post to one of my favorite canines, “Chance,” a Great Pyrenees, who left this Earth one year ago.  While Chance was not an official therapy dog, he embodied some of the best qualities [...]

by Christy Cuellar-Wentz
I winced.  The woman in the grocery store reached her breaking point as the elderly man in her care grabbed handfuls of gold wrapped chocolates and shoved them in his pocket.  Her words spilled out in a rush.  “Don’t you understand that you’re not allowed to have those?  They give you diarrhea, which [...]

by Christy Cuellar-Wentz
“Shhhh!”  My Grandma June looked at me fiercely, finger to her lips, ordering me to quiet my little ones.  She seemed to think there was just too much noise and general liveliness going on at her assisted living facility that day.  Never mind that televisions from adjoining rooms were creating a great deal [...]

by Christy Cuellar-Wentz
I had a bad habit of turning down offers of help while caring for my elderly grandfather in my home.  I clearly remember people offering to come and sit with him so I could have a little time away, but I somehow felt it was inappropriate for me to accept their offers.  For [...]

by Christy Cuellar-Wentz
After decades of enthusiastic greetings and powerful hugs in which my Grandmother  smushed my face into her bosom, I was shocked by the blank look on her face when I walked into her room.  I realized she had no idea who I was.  Worse, I could see that she didn’t remember my father, [...]

I’m an avid fan of brain improvement programs.  I originally sought brain development resources to rescue my own flagging mental fitness.  As a caregiver for my elderly grandfather and a homeschooling mother of two young children, I had a tendency to run myself ragged.  Continually focusing on other people’s needs and running chronically [...]

By Christy Cuellar-Wentz

Handling Unexpected Life Stories in Eldercare
“Hurry up girls, the cops are coming!”  My grandfather’s startling words rang through the house.  I came running, and discovered him vividly reliving an incident involving illegal activities that occurred many years before I was born.
Mobility Joggers for Outdoor Senior Living
My grandfather loved the outdoors, and missed his [...]