Top Ten 2009 EldercareABC Posts by Mary Beth Sammons

by Mary Beth Sammons

1. Caregiving Is Eternal
   This morning, I went for the 5 a.m. run with my group of girlfriends who have become my lifeline and support crew during the last several years caregiving, supportwhen I have been called on to care for my mother and father.
   
2. Senior Redefines “Care” in Eldercare
   From 4:30 to 9 a.m. every Monday, Wednesday and Friday for the last 10 years, 79-year-old Konrad Bald has walked the line at Buehler YMCA in Palatine.
   
3. The Goodbye Girl: Helping My Senior Mother Deal with the Almost Daily Deaths
   As the sole sibling living in relative proximity (about an hour away) of my recently-widowed mother, I spend nearly every day thinking about what she is doing. And still, I can’t figure out if – as an idea or goal – it’s good or bad.
   
4. Conscious Caregiving Boosts Health for Caregivers
   Here’s some good news on the caregiving front: Boomers sandwiched between children and their aging parents can create a healthier, longer life for themselves, just because they care, according to a new study.
   
5. Diving into the Compassion of Caregiving
   Sometimes in the caregiving for our elderly parents, we can get bogged down in the details and forget the essence of what caring for another is all compassion, caregivingabout. I know I do. My Outlook calendar often looks like this: Tuesday- Mom’s knee doctor; Thursday: mom’s heart doctor and breakfast with mom and her friends; Sunday Mass, lunch, movie.
6. Helping My Senior Parent Live FullyStay connectedI knew it!!! I’ve been telling my grown-up siblings for months that the key to keeping our recently-widowed mother living fully is to keep her connected to the community of people who live in her senior care home.
   
7. A New Twist to Parent CareHopping on the “Daughter Track”Years ago as an aspiring journalist, and a new mom, I remember waltzing into my newspaper editor’s office with a plan: Job sharing.
8. Joining the Sandwich GenerationAre you a Panini Too?As I drove away from my mother’s independent living facility the other day, I started to cry.
9. Injecting the Empathy and Caring into CaregivingI must confess that when it comes to providing parent care for my aging mother, and in the years before his recent death, senior help to my father, I am a novice, a nursery school student in the classroom of caregiving.
10. 911 Welcome to the Life of Caregivers on Call 24/7
    Not to boast, but I sort of consider myself a Rock Star of “handling” uncomfortable calls on the caregiving front. I’ve raced to a city hospital on 911, eldercare, caregiving, caring for aging parentsChristmas Eve when a friend was diagnosed with leukemia; I’ve aborted a vacation mid-airport when a friend’s husband died unexpectedly; I’ve made multiple 2 a.m. guest appearances in ER during the last three years of my father’s life.