Chapter Two: Some Lessons Learned In Dealing With An Aging Parent

This chapter was very interesting in the perspective of "recommendations" the author, Aaron advises when caring for an elderly parent like he did for his mother. The Do's and Don’ts and how to put yourself in the elderly parents shoes and have a closer look at what they may be feeling and a better understanding towards why they feel the way they do and why they do the things they do. For example, the feeling of frustration and fear due to the fact of simply aging, it is an inevitable stage in life. It’s all about patience and I have come to that understanding within this chapter. Dealing with an elderly parent is not always the easiest task and I personally am living this same exact example. My whole life we have lived with my grandmother (my mother's mother) and sometimes it’s like having another child in the home. In this chapter the author discusses how they were able to afford Adeline, a caregiver to take additional care of his mother. It is a great thing to provide but not everyone is fortunate to do the same and it can cause a strain on the individual taking all the load and full responsibility of their parent. Adeline’s presence in Aaron’s mother’s life was very beneficial to her and gave her a better quality of life towards the end. Even though Aarons mother was at first, stubborn about the idea having Adeline present daily in their home it ended up in her gaining a best friend and beneficial in providing her with emotional and psychological help. She had someone to talk to and a companion to do all the things she desired to accomplish. In Aaron’s recommendations on how to handle an elderly parent he stated about learning how to respond to his mother when at times you don’t know what the correct thing to say would be, sometimes it’s just best to let them feel like they still have control over themselves and the situation which results in a positive form of therapy for the individual. He also stated how great it is to let your parent just express themselves and share memories and stories they have to offer about their past, it helps with stimulating the brain and giving importance to the individual. It is clear this is not the easiest task at hand but with a few tips the stress can be handled in having a pleasant journey with an elderly parent.