I heard it in her voice. She never asked me to return and help, but I knew by the distress in her voice that things were not as rosy back home as I had thought. The year was 1994, and I was living in Atlanta, Georgia. My mom had been primary caregiver for my Dad and my grandparents over the past few years and over those years, I would return home as often as possible to help in whatever way I could. But, this late August night, I heard something in her voice that made me realize that more was needed of me, and fast. I thought I would spend about a month in Miami, where my mom and the rest of my family lived; help my mom care for my grandparents and then return home to Atlanta. Simple, right?Not really. Within minutes of returning to Miami, I found myself wondering how my mom was able to do all she had been doing as a caregiver. It was in and out of doctors' offices, endless hours on the phone with insurance companies, midnight dashes to the hospital, life and death decisions, heartaches and stress. And we were not alone. Not by a long shot. We would find plenty of other people like us, rushing around trying to do the best for their loved ones with little or no information, but always with enough time to share whatever information they learned which they thought would be of value to fellow caregivers. We decided to do something to help others as they were helping us. The first issue of Today's Caregiver magazine debuted July fourth, 1995 (our own independence day), caregiver.com was born shortly thereafter and the "Fearless Caregiver" annual caregivers conferences began in 1998. We have met thousands of dedicated professional and family caregivers, interviewed over 150 celebrity caregivers and hopefully helped a few caregivers along the way. I know that the caregivers we've met have been of invaluable help to us as family caregivers.
Even though we have been "out here" since the mid-nineties, we know that this is just the beginning. We are proud to have been able to bring together some of the brightest and most caring people to write for caregiver.com and Today's Caregiver magazine and to speak at our conferences. We invite you to take advantage of their wisdom and e-mail us your questions, join our free internet newsletters and interact with the other caregivers visiting caregiver.com. We welcome you to our home on the Internet, hope you stick around a while and look forward to helping you in any way possible.
Gary Barg
March 15 1956-August 9 2024