Dear Magnoliatwin. Bless you for loving and caring for your mom when she needed you most. I am just about at the point of taking my mother inlaw(my best friend) into our home. She is 82 now. I've told the other family members many times: "She cared for you for the first 18 or so years of your life, now it is our turn to care for her, God willing, the next 18 years of her life." Unfortunalely, not all feel the same. Some think it would be best if she were "put" into a nursing home or seniors apartment. Geez! If they can't find the time to visit her while she is in her own home, where do they think they will find the time to travel all the way to the nursing home and then find time to visit with her. Bless all you who had no other choice other than moving your loved one into a nursing home, and bless you twice everytime you go visit them.

If I have offended any of you with my comments, i apologize. I have been a step further than you . my mother is gone now and if I had even voiced the times I was tired and weary, I would have not foriven myself. I just hope that something I said would help u to realize that there will be a time when u will look back when you're not so tired and think of all the things u have felt and shared with others that may have been disrespectful.After a;;. she didn't choose that path for her life. If it is hard for you,just imagine how much harder and frightening it is for her.We laughed with our mother and hugged when she did those things. I can understand and know all about the times you are worn out and would have liked to have been doing something else. Now, I am glad that I was able to do all those things for her. She did them for me when I was a baby and didn't know what I was doing.

thanks for the advice it is very touching and i will use it one day to care for family members.

Remember that you aren't alone! I think that helps when you are in the middle of caregiving for a loved one.

I also wanted to mention that one of the professional services that is great if you are in the New York City area is Visiting Nurse Service of New York (http://www.vnsny.org).

Thanks for the article!

Stav

Thank you for another interesting, informative article by Len Hansen. I've enjoyed and learned much from each of his articles. He offers advice that is down to earth and helpful. I hope you continue to include articles by Mr. Hansen in your newsletters.

Thank you,
Barbara