Happy St. Patrick's Day!

March 17^th was always a special day for my mother. She would play Irish records on the stereo (do our grandchildren even know what that is?) and they would play all day. Dinner was always Corned Beef and Cabbage and as children we always got “a little green” from the pot of gold!

Thoughts of my mother remind me how important family events were to her. Even as she aged, she wanted to be part of all those events; weddings, graduations, reunions, etc. She was fortunate to have all her adult children nearby. In the beginning, my sister and I shared caregiving responsibilities when it came to these family events: If my child was getting married, my sister assisted Mom buy a new dress, send the gift and then accompanied her to the wedding. If it was my niece getting married, it was my turn to coordinate Mom’s needs. As Mom aged, it was necessary to provide her with the assistance of caregivers to be by her side at all times when she attended events, but she continued to attend those events. In fact, the last family reunion was held only 3 months before she died.

My mother-in-law celebrated her 90^th birthday last September and still travels monthly to see children, grandchildren and great grandchildren living in 10 states (including Alaska) and Canada! She is fiercely independent; walking about 3 miles every day and still driving. However, 8 years ago she needed heart surgery and 2 grandchildren were getting married. She realized that she could not attend, but she also did not want to “be a burden” to her adult daughters who had children getting married. Our caregivers provided Nonna with personalized care and gave my sisters-in-law the “peace of mind” they needed. We were able to have Nonna give her toast via the phone and shared the video tape of the wedding with her when we returned!

As a family owned agency, we understand how very important family events can be to our clients and their families. Ideally, it would wonderful if adult children could always be there for their parents. That isn’t always the case, but Care Managers and caregivers can assist seniors in attending family events or give the adult child or caregiving spouse peace of mind when they need to leave town to attend a wedding or graduation. We have a Care Management Retainer program that provides professional back up when family members do not live nearby or need to leave town. Additionally, we have a number of caregivers that are available to travel with our clients to attend out of town events (e.g. weddings or graduations). This extra assistance allows everyone to enjoy the function knowing a caregiver can take the Grandma to the bathroom or back to a motel room when the she is ready. I want our clients and their families to enjoy all of life’s important events just the same way our family does, so if you or someone you know can benefit from these services, please give Kate a call at 847-548-1330 and she will arrange it for you.