IT’S ALL MAKING SENSE TO ME NOW.

So you know that Melissa and I have been working on The Caregiver Organizer For My Aging Parent book, due out any day now (yes, we’re getting closer, but yes, summer set us back a  bit!).  To be honest, this book has been a bit tougher for us because when we wrote our For My Child book, we could draw from personal experience, but neither of us, thankfully, has had to be a caregiver for a parent yet.

However, with the passing of my friend’s step mother this summer, I find myself somewhat in this role since my friend is 1000 miles away and I have always been considered part of the family anyway.  Her father needs somebody now, and I am more than willing and able to be there for him.

So without writing too many details, which I’m sure will be more to come in the coming months, I just want to tip my virtual hat to every caregiver out there, but especially those of you in the “sandwich” generation.  Taking care of your own family, plus taking care of your parents, or any aging family member, is a tougher role than I ever could have imagined.  I’m already exhausted, not to mention overwhelmed, looking at the tasks ahead, the guilt of knowing that I probably won’t do those tasks well enough, and the knowledge that I don’t even have the knowledge that I need.

This, my dear friends, is why we are writing this book.  Not to give you any advice, because obviously we are in no position to do so, but to help you organize information about your loved one so that you don’t have to do it all.  You can’t be there 24/7 for him or her, so when you need to have another caregiver there, all of your parent’s information will be organized in a manual, ready to go.

I’m extra motivated now to get this book finished, and we’ll let you know as soon as it’s ready to go.

So hang in there, Fellow Caregivers.  Help is on its way!

Karen