for different categories of the elderly. The
dramatic increase in the number of people
reaching age 65, coupled with their in-
creased life expectancy, has expanded the
classification into the following groups:
• The “Young Old” Ages 65-74
• The “Old” Ages 74-84
• The “Oldest Old” Ages 85+
WNY Family’s very first annual El-
derCare Guide appeared 17 years ago as
a result of what I was experiencing as a
result of my own parents’ needs, and they
lived 500 miles away. My father’s health
declined over a period of 7 years and my
mother, 8 years younger than my father,
was his primary caregiver.
My brother, who is my only sibling,
lived downstairs from my parents, and
helped tremendously with doctors’ ap-
pointments, picking up prescriptions, car-
rying in groceries, and managing all the
household chores and repairs that used to
be done by my father.
In home h o el m p the
fr
Heart
Always looking for Part-Time
Compassionate Caregivers
• Errands/Transportation
• Meal Prep • Laundry
• Light Housekeeping and More!
♥ Seniors
♥ New Moms
♥ Convalescents
~ Serving Northern Erie & Niagara Counties ~
(716) 439-8100 ♥ www.ChristianHomeCompanions.com
My mother had promised my father
that she would never put him in a nursing
home — something professional advisers
say never to do — and she managed to
fulfill her promise, but at the expense of
her own health.
After my father’s death at age 88 in
2007, after 4 years of quite ill health, my
mom only had two reasonably good years
before her own health began to seriously
deteriorate. She passed away under Hos-
pice Care in 2013 at age 86. Between the
two of them, thirteen years of caregiving
were involved.
Living a day’s drive away, during
those years I always had a bag packed
and ready to go on a moment’s notice for
situations when one or the other of them
needed care after hospitalization. I was
in charge of deciphering and filling out
any necessary medical paperwork and
communicating with doctors, home care
aides, visiting nurses, etc. On visits home,
I de-cluttered and re-organized kitchen
cupboards and bedroom closets so my
mother, who was bent over from spinal
stenosis pain, could reach things more
easily. After a fall, I bought my father a
rollator to help him walk — and it sat in
continued on page 46
March 2020 WNY Family 27