Three Score & Seven Years Ago (plus 2)
Funny, I don’t feel a day over two score and seven years. (If all the score talk is confusing, please refer to Lincoln’s Gettysburg address).
When blowing out the birthday candles, my wishes are always for and about family caregivers.
We are so pleased to have started our march across the nation once again with the 25th anniversary in-person Fearless Caregiver Conference Tour. The distance between the last in-person event held as the pandemic hit in March 2020 and the next one this past summer was 875 days, that’s way too long to wait to be in the room with family caregivers again.
The most recent event in Orlando was a living example of why it is imperative the caregivers interact with one another. A caregiver raised her hand and asked a question of the panel about her elderly mother living with her and her family. The situation has become unsafe for her mom and the caregiver wants to visit long term care facilities with her mother who refuses to go. The pain in the caregivers face was so obvious that her husband never let go of her hand. She said something that I have heard multiple times over the years at the events “mom (dad) is tough, and I can’t get her (him) to do anything.”
The reason that I bring this up is that although the expert panel had great suggestions, it was the caregivers in the room who have also gone through some version of this situation and shared their solutions who gave her the strength to take on the role of CEO for Caring for My Loved One, inc. With the strength and love needed to help her mother see what must be done. As her fellow caregivers shared their stories and solutions, I saw her face change from pain and fear of confronting her mother to confidence knowing that she now has a path to follow and that she is not alone in her concerns.
To be in the room with family caregivers once again. Couldn’t think of a better birthday gift.
And if truth be known, sometimes I do feel like four score and seven years. Time for my nap.
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