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Family Discussion: Long Distance Caregiving

From our Care Blog

Caregiving from a distance is no easy task. It can be stressful because you can’t be there at a moment’s notice when your parents need you.  To help reduce some of the stress and to help you organize the process for care when your loved ones do not live near you, we have put together some helpful tips we’ve gathered from Nurse Gina. Create a Contact List: Assemble and organize a contact list that includes addresses, phone numbers and emails of friends, neighbors, doctors, faith leaders and others in regular contact with your parents who you can be reached in...

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How Dogs Can Positively Impact The Elderly

From our Care Blog

When my Mom turned 60-years-old, I asked her what she wanted for this special birthday. I figured maybe she would want a trip or have all the kids and grandkids fly home. Her answer floored me: a dog. My Mom and Dad had dogs when they were children, but I was allergic to pets.  It had been 40 years since my parents had a dog, and I was a little afraid whether it would be too overwhelming for them. After all, dogs require a lot of attention, love and training. Would my Dad really want to get up and walk...

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It Takes a Village

From our Care Blog

Molly Rowe – Owner, FirstLight Home Care of Salem, MA Guilt, I’m discovering, is a huge part of this aging thing. Our parent feels guilt for putting us out, frets about being a burden, worries about picking up the phone to ask for help. We the adult children question our decisions, second-guess our actions, and feel guilt for all we can’t do. I feel similar guilt with my preschool-aged children—worrying about their school, wondering if I’m reading enough books, stressing because they like only one vegetable. But with young children, it’s ok—even expected—to ask for help. You hire a babysitter...

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Opening The Conversation on Care

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Molly Rowe owns FirstLight Home Care of Salem, MA with her husband, Steve, and lives in Swampscott with their two sons. A few weeks ago, I wrote about our regrets related to my father-in-law in the last few years of his life. Since then, I’ve heard many stories from people who’ve shared similar experiences caring for an aging parent or loved one. Every story is different of course, but there’s one sentence I keep hearing over and over: “Looking back, we should have had help.” It’s mind-boggling to me, really, that we are all in this “caring for our parent”...

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Living a Purpose-Filled Life At Any Age

From our Care Blog

Molly Rowe owns FirstLight Home Care of Salem, MA with her husband, Steve, and lives in Swampscott with their two sons. Molly Rowe - Owner, FirstLight Home Care of Salem, MA Of all the things that baffled us about our dad’s (my dad-in-law’s) behavior in the last few years of his life, there’s one thing that stands out most of all. It wasn’t that he started freezing all his food (including his butter) or sleeping in a chair every night. It was that he stopped doing crossword puzzles. Crossword puzzles were a mainstay in his house after his wife died...

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Conversations We Wish We’d Had

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Molly Rowe owns FirstLight Home Care of Salem, MA with her husband, Steve, and lives in Swampscott with their two sons. About a year ago last summer, my husband, his siblings, and I sat around our kitchen table having the conversation we’d long avoided—how to care for Dad. Like most people who end up sitting at this table, we had a lot of questions and not a lot of answers. We Googled things like home care and visiting nurses, debated how to take his driver’s license away, and fretted about how we’d bring it up to him. Little did we...

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Traveling With Seniors

From our Care Blog

A few weeks ago my 80-plus year old parents told us “kids” that they were going to take a trip to see my mom’s sister in Seattle and that they are going to be staying with her for a few weeks. This would require a plane ride with a change of planes in Denver (unfortunately no direct flights from here), a car rental scenario, and a group of adult children worried for the safety and wellbeing of them. They are taking this trip next month, so we’ve been helping them get ready and organized to go on their vacation. This...

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The Perfect Gift For Father's Day

From our Care Blog

It’s that time of year when sons and daughters flock to buy Hallmark cards for their dad and try and find the perfect gift. Maybe you’re thinking about a shirt, but that will probably just add to the unworn selection already in his closet. Or maybe you’re considering golf balls, because you know how many he loses in his zest to lower his handicap. You're probably thinking "if he wants something he goes and buys it" or "he has everything he needs". Do you remember what you got your Dad for Father’s day last year? Chances are he doesn’t either....

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Multiple Generations Under One Roof

From our Care Blog

When my dad was alive, he used to say “18 and out.” In his mind, he paid for our college and after that it was time to fly on our own. It was an expectation I never tested. In the 30+ years since I left college, I went home for visits but never to live. We took pride in being self-sufficient and “making it on our own.” Now, my 25-year-old son still lives with me. He has a part-time job making $9.25/hour and pays for his own car insurance, health insurance and gas. That’s about all he can afford. I...

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FirstLight Home Care Celebrates Parkinson Awareness Month

From our Care Blog

Muhammed Ali who floated like a butterfly in the boxing ring gave a face to the disease. Did he give up? No. He lit the Olympic Torch in 1996. Michael J Fox battles it too, yet he has his own successful sitcom and has raised more than $450 million in research to bring about a cure. These are just two people among the 1.5 million Americans who battle Parkinson’s disease yet lead rich and fulfilling lives. April Is Parkinson’s Awareness Month, a time to educate people about this illness and the many misconceptions that surround it. It’s also time to...

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