Here’s what you need to know about your elderly parents and finances. Since we all have aging parents, there’s lots we need to know in order to help them “grow old gracefully.” Today I’m going to concentrate on one area of this topic: elderly parents and finances. Watching your mother and father age can be […]
Mental Illness: When It’s a Family Affair (15 Observations and/or Best Practices)
For years, I had no idea what was wrong with my mother. That she’d been diagnosed with a mental illness: manic-depression (Known today as Bipolar Disorder.). Ashamed of her condition, Mom told no one. My father stayed silent on the topic as well, not clueing my brothers and me in on her condition. No doubt […]
A Father and Child Reunion (An essay on a father. And forgiveness.)
By Jennifer Norstrom Silbert Exactly one year ago tonight, my brothers, their wives, and I were standing vigil over my dad’s hospice bed at my parents’ home in Wisconsin. We expected, but didn’t know for sure, that Dad wouldn’t make it through the night. His cancer had roared back into his life just three weeks […]
Freshly Dug Graves (A list essay on what to expect when you lose your mother.)
-Less than 24 hours home from vacation, I reach for my phone. To call my mother to say I’m back, that I’ll visit soon. Then I remember, she’s no longer here. -Flying back east from our Arizona Fiesta Bowl adventure, I check my phone calendar. “Order flowers for Mom’s January 15th birthday.” Throat tight, I delete […]
