About

My father, who was already being treated for multiple chronic conditions, spent the next two years in and out of the hospital with live-in caregivers in-between – one of whom stole his money and his pain pills. My mother had 12 broken bones and further head injuries in the car accident. She lived 5-1/2 years after the accident, but rarely spoke a coherent word in all that time. She spent time in an assisted living community while her bones healed, more time at home with my father’s aides, more aides after his death, and the last two years of her life bedridden in my dining room – because I wanted her to be where the action was, such as it was in our dull household. For those two years I was her full-time carer, with occasional hours of respite.

In the many years since then, I have been a carer for a variety of other relatives with a variety of conditions. But I have a lemonade spirit, and in those years –even in the midst of those years – I began putting my degree in Instructional Technology (training) to work in the field of dementia care. I wrote an award-winning newsletter, turned that into books, became the behind-the-scenes video expert for clients in the U.S. and Australia, and did loads of in-person training. Using my mother as my role model, I provided practical, instantly-usable guidelines always with an upbeat attitude. (Discussing continence care, I noted, “We can’t be anal about this.”) As I noted above, my mother rarely spoke a coherent word for 5-1/2 years, but she still managed to convey joy. My helpers and all her many hospice carers loved being with her. Finding the joy that remains is my purpose in everything I have done since.