Sandwich Generation caregivers
Minnesota Public Radio, April 17, 2008 by Nanci Olesen
“I can hold her hand and you can feel that there’s something much deeper than words can ever express, so that’s how we communicate. But she’s slipping away.”
Mary Louise Clary is describing what it feels like to be with her mom. Her mother has had Alzheimer’s disease for more than 6 years. She still recognizes Clary, and they spend time together every day, holding hands.
Several years ago, Clary helped her mom and dad move from their home on Cape Cod back to Minnesota. Soon after that, she found a nursing home for her mom and helped her dad start his solo life at a townhouse across the yard from Clary’s home.
Clary has a son in high school and one in college. She’s recovering from breast cancer. She quit her job so that she could attend to her parents and be there for her boys. She’s trying to take care of everyone and yet let them have their independence too.
Although she doesn’t want to interfere with her dad’s privacy every minute, Clary needs to know that he’s okay. He gets Meals on Wheels every day. The meals come to a cooler that her dad puts out by his back st