I am 32 years old, married, with a seven year old son. In August of 2009, my husband, son and I moved back into the house I grew up in, with my parents, because my 73 year old mother has dementia with Parkinson’s-like symptoms. We wanted to be able to help my dad care for my mom, and we wanted to be able to spend as much time with them as possible because we know just how fragile life is. We were able to stay with them for two and a half years and moved into our own home in January of 2012. Now we continue to help with caregiving and live just a few minutes away.
I decided to start this blog because dementia is a lonely disease, for both patient and family. I would like to let other people know that they are not alone. I also felt that our experience of living in a multigenerational household could be of use to other families dealing with this disease. Every day I see my mom, dad, husband and son live with dementia, and how it affects each one of us is very different. It has been especially eye opening to see how my son deals with the disease and we hope this blog might assist other parents who are trying to help their young children understand dementia.
I am a Unitarian Universalist minister and I feel that our journey together as a family is not just a medical one, but a spiritual one.
I will be writing about all of us as a family and as such, I felt it only right that our whole family decide together if I should write this blog. So, with the courageous approval of my wonderful mother, and the excitement of the rest of the family, this blog was created.
I look forward to your comments and helping create more of a community for us all to help support each other.
Blessings,
Rev. Katie
Contact me at: katie@farrellfoundation.com
P.S. All of the opinions and ideas expressed here are my own and are in no way supposed to be used as medical advice (I am not a doctor) or seen as opinions held by the larger Unitarian Universalist community.
