Navigating the Season of Aging Parents
Allison deep dives into a subject that’s not always easy, but many find themselves experiencing…
Like other life topics that come into sharper focus in our 40s, whispers start first and then open conversations begin. Peri/menopause, for example. The welcomed chatter within that whole topic was cracked wide open. Discussions and information shared became life-changing for women who had been lost without clear direction or answers. We’re starting to hear more and more about another life experience: navigating the care and attention to our own parents.
The conversation is coming up more and more from our peers in their 40’s and 50’s. We are the “sandwich generation” after all. It’s not always easy to watch our parents age, but time is persistent. Some of our parents are thriving in their 70s, 80s and into their 90s, while others have hurdles when it comes to their health and quality of life.
Like many of us, Allison’s role as daughter has started to shift over the past couple of years. She is guiding and looking out for her parents in a way that she has not before. She’s not alone in a generation wedged between caring for their own children, and looking out for their own parents. Like a lot of things in life, there is a spectrum when it comes to the needs of the older generation. Some might need a simple tech lesson to keep up with the ever changing world of communication, while others are maneuvering through a health issue. There are highly independent parents who loathe the idea of being a burden of any kind and those who lean in hard, needing and wanting extra care and attention. And unfortunately, there are the scenarios we all hope to avoid and never experience. A rapid decline or diagnosis that requires major life change and care.
Allison shares her own experience below…