Articles
We Are Not Our Parents’ Parent
I often refer to my 89-year-old mother as the Energizer Bunny. She’s always on the go and is good at recharging her reservoir of energy. While...
When Your Parent Refuses Caregiving Help
Providing caregiving for your parent is a profound life-altering shift of roles that requires balancing the right to self-determination with the...
Why I Adored My Father’s Mistress
She was voluptuous, kind and capable. She never quarreled or got upset. She could whip up a delicious five-course meal (with two meat dishes—a...
Survival for the Sandwich Generation: Navigating the hidden costs for working caregivers
It began years ago: my father wandered off from a family gathering and became disoriented. Things started to add up: missed appointments, mistakes...
No One Should Have to Choose Between Caregiving and Work
Years ago, I regularly saw a neurologist who was treating me for chronic headaches. On one particular appointment, my doctor deviated from his usual...
Huffington Post
Jody Gastfriend is the Vice President of Senior Care for Care.com. As a licensed clinical social worker with more than 25 years of experience, Jody...
My Parent’s Keeper
The Guilt, Grief, Guesswork, and Unexpected Gifts of Caregiving
My Parent’s Keeper: The Guilt, Grief, Guesswork, and Unexpected Gifts of Caregiving, by senior care expert Jody Gastfriend, provides fresh, provocative and ultimately optimistic insights into the experience of caring for an aging parent or family member. Using the latest research and drawing on case histories and poignant interviews, the book is a resource as well as an inspiration for family caregivers. The book combines powerful and relatable stories illustrating a broad range of caregiving challenges. For many, the transformational life passage of caring for an aging parent, along with the pain, can bring simple pleasures and a deeper appreciation of one’s own aging.
With a foreword by Representative Patrick J. Kennedy, this essential guide to caring for aging and ailing family members provides actionable advice, illuminating vignettes, and a compassionate approach to helping family caregivers find gratification in their new role. Beyond the “how to do it,” the book offers “how to grow through it.”
