The last couple weeks have been very intense. I went back to Missouri for a working vacation. I recently had an elder law attorney speak at the Caregiver Support Group. He talked about the legal paperwork you should be sure to have in place. So I scanned copies of my parents Advanced Directive, Power of Attorneys, Wills, all forms of insurance, and something with the account numbers on all their other assets and bills. We went to the bank and put my name on the checking account, only on the signature card, not as a joint owner. That was one of the pieces of advice the Elder Law attorney gave and the staff member at the bank agreed. I also made sure a friend of the family and a neighbor have my contact information. It seems to be the most I can do living 1000 miles away. I was researching the topic for my last Caregiver Support Group and the phrase that "most caregiving begins with an emergency call in the night", really stuck with me. There is so much you can't anticipate. This way, at least I will have somewhat of a head start.
My boss has had a rough couple weeks too. She had to move her mother from assisted living to a skilled nursing facility because she has declined to where she needs more care. Doesn't really put you in the mood for the holidays. We make quite a pair, my boss and I. We both have loved caring for seniors with dementia during our long term care careers. Now we both find ourselves dealing with it on a personal basis. As with the job, she is several steps ahead of me in the process. I still love my job and would not change. Maybe this will give me another perspective so I can do a better job in my job and my job help me to do a better job with family caregiving. One more box checked off, on to the next.
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