Our Aging Parents

Angel With A Broken Wing

Posted: 8 years ago | By: Christine Somers | In: Our Aging Parents | Read Time: 3 minutes, 38 seconds
Over the last seven weeks, I've shared with you the lessons I learned while walking the end of life journey with my parents. Most of the discussions have centered on forgiveness for those closest to you and youself. Today I am blogging about paid caregivers, the people who may spend more time with your parents at the end than even you. Next to money, the most frequently discussed issue surrounding...
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Our Aging Parents

Embrace Your Spouse

Posted: 8 years ago | By: Christine Somers | In: Our Aging Parents | Read Time: 2 minutes, 11 seconds
If you are lucky or have worked real hard, your home is a sanctuary and a safe place. It's the place where you can recharge and renew your energy before heading out into the world again. A lovely home with comfortable furnishing make the surroundings nice but the joy in a home comes from the people that you share it with. The stress of my mother's end of li...
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Life Management

Healing After Loss

Posted: 8 years ago | By: Christine Somers | In: Life Management | Read Time: 0 minutes, 53 seconds
This August it will be two years since I headed out to Whitefish, Montana for Laura Munson's Writing Retreat. Montana is where I met Kristin Meekhof, a young women who was a fellow writer and now a friend. Over the past two years, Kristin has brought to life her book, A Widow's Guide to Healing: Gentle Support and...
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Our Aging Parents

Forgiveness Sets You Free

Posted: 8 years ago | By: Christine Somers | In: Our Aging Parents | Read Time: 2 minutes, 10 seconds
My last two posts were about forgiving our family and us as we stumble and fall while walking the end of life journey with our parents. Today, I'm writing about forgiving our friends. I've come across multiple blogs and articles about "what not to say" to someone who is in the throws of watching a parent or loved one die. Most of these pieces tell us more about the author than abo...
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Our Aging Parents

You Will Have Regrets

Posted: 8 years ago | By: Christine Somers | In: Our Aging Parents | Read Time: 3 minutes, 6 seconds
My father died of a stroke, a stroke that destroyed both hemispheres of his brain. How do I know this?  The lead doctor of the Jacksonville Mayo Clinic medical team caring for my father told me. He sat down in a dimly lit consultation room with my mother and our family and meticulously and diligently reviewed my father's test results with us. The MRI showed clearly the results of the...
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Our Aging Parents

Déjà Vu All Over Again

Posted: 8 years ago | By: Christine Somers | In: Our Aging Parents | Read Time: 3 minutes, 36 seconds
My parents raised three children. I am the oldest while my brother is the middle child and my sister is the youngest. We have many common traits but from a very young age we responded quite differently to situation where emotions are running high or are uncomfortable. My response is to take control, while my brother disengages. My sister's response is to act as a...
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Our Aging Parents

The Desire For Perfection

Posted: 8 years ago | By: Christine Somers | In: Our Aging Parents | Read Time: 2 minutes, 59 seconds
The first half of my life was spent striving for perfection in all that I did. And let me tell you, chasing that goal is exhausting and deflating because I found perfection to be illusive and unattainable. To paraphrase Voltaire, perfect is the enemy of good. And is also the enemy of done. The second half of my life has been spent taming that urge and ignoring the little voice that says I...
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Life Management

The Long And Winding Road

Posted: 8 years ago | By: Christine Somers | In: Life Management | Read Time: 3 minutes, 8 seconds
The other day I was talking with a friend who is struggling with making decision about care for his aging mother. His mom is no longer capable of living alone nor is she able to make financial decision for herself. I causally mentioned how difficult it is to walk the end of life journey with an aging parent. Later as I thought about our conversation, I wondered if my friend real...
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