What's It All About...

Purpose

The intention of this blog is to provide a way to document the ongoing saga and tribulations of caring for our aging mom, Genevieve.  We've found that this can be challenging to say the least.  My husband, Jim, is the primary caregiver in her life, and often finds the task frustrating and leaves her home upset.  This blog will hopefully provide an objective outlet for some of our frustrations and a way to discuss the challenges we face.  We hope others will join the conversation and help provide solutions that perhaps we haven't thought of.

A Little About Genevieve

Mom's going to be 87 in a few short weeks.  She is an independent person by nature, socially outgoing, and lives in her own little home.  She is strong willed, and needs things done her way.  Until done, she tends to obsess over the smallest of items and expects the help others.  Of course, she loves her family: two girls (oldest & youngest) and two boys (my husband, Jim, being the younger of the two).  Genevieve's husband passed away after a long illness in 1999, so she's been living independently for over 20 years now, and still drives herself to the nearby stores, but no long distance driving.   Unfortunately, all her children live more than 30 minutes away from her, so she doesn't feel safe traveling that distance on her own.

Easing the Effort

With the record that this blog will provide of how Mom progresses, I hope that this can provide some perspective to everyone involved in her care.  Sometimes a person is 'too close to the forest to see the trees', and I'm hoping that this journal can help reveal the totality of who mom is from day to day.  By seeing the 'forest' in a little detail, perhaps we may be able to clearly identify when she needs more professional help than what we can alone can provide.

Joe


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