Thanksgiving: The Difficult Choices Caregivers Must Make During the Holidays

Photo credit Natalia - y To my loyal readers, thank you. I am deeply grateful to you for your loyalty. Whether you've been drawn to my writing by recent events or you've been following me for years, you are valuable to me. This little piece is something that I often run on Thanksgiving because it seems to illustrate to many what holidays are often like for caregivers. Blessings on this day of thanks. Carol I’ve been thinking of our family’s past Thanksgivings. For a number of years, the grandparents on both sides were relatively healthy, and we’d have them over for Thanksgiving. They could climb the steps – sometimes with help – but they managed. At the time, my boys were in grade school. We had “adopted” our neighbor, Joe. He was a widower in his eighties and was totally deaf. Joe's deafness made him uncomfortable in groups, so he chose not to come to our house for holiday meals. Therefore, my sons and I took the meals to him. One of my sons would carry the salad, one would carry the pumpkin pie with whipped cream (they traded because pie was more fun to carry than salad), and I carried a plate heaped with turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, sweet potatoes, and rolls. If it was really cold – below zero cold – we’d have to throw on a jacket. Usually, it was – oh – maybe fifteen above zero, so we’d just slip on some shoes and scurry over from our porch to Joe’s. We’d burst through the door, waving at him to get to the table, since he couldn’t hear u...
Source: Minding Our Elders - Category: Geriatrics Authors: Source Type: blogs