Welcome to our new Concerns & Advice series. While in this series we will feature some of the New LifeStyles family, personal stories in senior living and give advice and suggestions on the topic. Join us next week for advice on loved ones and memory care.
As someone who has almost 20 years of experience in the senior housing and care industry, I can tell you first hand how life really does come full circle. As parents, we do everything we can to nurture and prepare our children for life in the real world.
As children grow into adulthood and have families of their own, it is not until that point that they come to realize all of the sacrifices that their parents made for them all along the way.
As a child with two aging parents and a parent of a college freshman and a high school junior, I can relate to both sides. I never fully appreciated everything my Mom and Dad did for me until I had kids of my own. At this point, I don’t know if my children truly appreciate everything that has been done for them or not, but I know that time will come.
It is very ironic that as a young person, you never envision taking care of your parents one day. Then life comes full circle and we attempt to repay them for everything they have done for us by doing everything we can do now to take care of them.
My mom and dad are into their mid – 70’s and still live at home and have a fairly active lifestyle. Unfortunately, my Dad has been diagnosed with early onset memory care issues. He takes a pill every day that helps delay this terrible disease, but it will only be a matter of time (hopefully a long time) before he and my mom will begin suffering with more difficult dementia related issues.
Being involved in this industry, I have seen just how devastating Alzheimer’s can be to a family and in particular to the primary caregiver or in our situation my mom. My hope is that she maintains her health and stays active because I know that she could be in for a very difficult journey.
It is comforting to know that she won’t be taking that journey alone and that she can count on her children just like we counted on our parents every day for so many years.