I bet ya’ll didn’t know that it’s National Family Caregivers Month again, did you? Every November we Family Caregivers are honored by this extravaganza of attention, and this year, I’m going to try to post some little tidbit here on the old substack every day of the month. I’ll post interesting resources or goings-on in the caregiver world, stories about my own life as a Family Caregiver, and the usual dark-humored fare that delights some, horrifies others and sustains me and my people.
As my good friend and fellow family caregiver Sandra Stein says, “We’re bad, bad Mother FaCas.
Tidbit of the Day: There are more than 50 million of us in this country. You can read the official White House proclamation here. I feel — well — all sorts of things. I’ll write about my gratitude and my bitterness and my muttering under my breath (mother facas!) each day, I guess, because, as the proclamation states, “Family caregivers are the backbone of our Nation’s long-term care system, doing essential work with devotion, often at great emotional and financial cost.” Yessiree, Bob. Or, Joe.
Interesting Event/Resource:
2nd Story’s Radical Imagination: Care for Caregivers event in Chicago, but it’s available on Zoom as well:
“Our next Radical Imagination Town Hall will center on Care for Caregivers, and explore how arts leaders can foster environments that support arts workers caring for children, aging parents or elders, and loved ones with disabilities or chronic illness. This conversation will be moderated by 2nd Story’s Artistic Director Amanda Delheimer and features parent and small business owner Dana Cruz, writer Sadaf Ferdowsi, and Whitney Hill, Founder and Director of Spork!, a nonprofit for people with cognitive, physical, and non-apparent disabilities & differences.”
Thank you, dear Readers. If you’ve got anything you want me to include — tidbits, resources, stories, celebrations, admonitions, spells — please let me know. We’re all mother FaCas together, now. And if it’s easy, do it now. If it’s hard, let’s do it together.
Ah, the often unsung heroes of the nation. I was a caregiver for my mom for about a decade. While I wanted to help her, and often found grace in the doing of it, it wrecked (I believe - but what do I know?) my mental and physical health. What are we -- the many -- to do? What help and understanding do we receive from the outside world? Precious little, sad to say. I honor and praise so many -- mostly women -- doing this work. How could we not?
“Family caregivers are the backbone of our Nation’s long-term care system, doing essential work with devotion, often at great emotional and financial cost.” What if, Joe, you could do something to alleviate those costs?