It was two days before Mother’s Day.

My wife Carrie and I sat on the deck in the bright sunshine visiting with Dad, Mom and Vera, Mom’s caregiver.

Less than two short weeks ago Mom had achieved her 80^th birthday, smacking her nemesis in the face.  Take that, Alzheimer’s Disease!

In my mind I was rolling over the scene from the middle of the previous night when Dad had called me at about 11:00, rousing me from the doze session I was having as Jay Leno cracked wise.

“Hi Brad.  I need some help.  Mom’s okay, but she’s on the floor and I can’t get her up.”

Having moved in next door to the folks seven years before in order to be available for just such times, I was at her side in about 53 seconds.  She was fine and as Dad orchestrated, we got her to bed through a series of lifts and a couple strategic grunts.

“So, Mom,” says I, as the sun warmed her back, “do you remember me coming to help you off the floor last night at bedtime?”

“Hmmmm.  Not sure I do.  Did you bring the ice cream?”

“No, I don’t think there was any ice cream involved, just lifting.  So we’re not gonna have a repeat performance of that tonight, right?”

“Right.  Y’all come.”

As the listeners all grinned, I quizzed, “So, Mom, did you remember Mother’s Day is this weekend?”

“Is it?” she wondered from beneath her floppy sun bonnet.

“Yep. It’s comin’ right up.  What would you like for Mother’s Day, Mom?”

Pause.

“Father.”

You’re in Home Care Country!

Make yourself comfortable because here you’re “at home.”

Brad

Of course, it’s  a wonderment that I actually have friends at all, given the fact that I’m always sharing my frequently unpopular opinions (see Boardman Country).  But both of them – thanks, Mom and Dad – do tend to think I have too much on my plate.

There’s no question that taking care of the three clients I have living with me at the Boardman Family Home is a full load, but then, who wants a boring life?  So in my spare time, I really enjoy fooling around with online business opportunities, not because I need to, but because I love the challenge of seeing if online revenue-generation can actually be a reality for me or not.

Anyway, onlookers viewing what I like to call “the circus” try to imagine juggling meal preparation, dispensing medications, changing diapers and writing several blogs.  How is that done?

First, I’ve learned exactly what my folks will and won’t eat and I have fixing that stuff down to a science.  When I’m happy I fix what they will eat.  When they’re making me mad, I fix what they won’t eat!  It’s great to be surrounded by folks who are always doing their very best to make me happy.  Smile.

Next, I choose my clients carefully so that the care tends to be fairly light.  Quite honestly, I’ve really had nothing whatsoever to do with which clients are with me.  That’s all been God’s responsibility and, of course, He never gives us more than we can take.  Truly.  Read it.  It’s in the Bible.

Finally, over time you’ll observe that my caregiving experiences become fodder for my blog posts.  It’s so much easier to write about stuff that’s actually happened or is currently happening than to try concocting something pretend.

Thankfully, as a normal course my operation runs like a veritable machine.  In fact, that’s exactly how I look at it and talk about it.  So much of it hinges, literally, on routine.  I just add gas and oil.

Some people don’t like routine.  I guess they’d rather have chaos.  I love it.  I like to find a nice comfortable rut and stay in it!

And when it comes to taking care of folks that have some degree of disability, the routine is one of the primary supports that truly helps them feel secure.  When they feel comfortable and secure, so much more in the way of accomplishment is possible for the caregiver.

So when people wonder how I do it all, my standard answer is this:  Routine and latex gloves, Baby!

You’re in Home Care Country!

Make yourself comfortable because here you’re “at home.”

Brad

Some dictionary definitions go like this:

• an environment offering security and happiness

• a valued place regarded as a refuge or place of origin

• an institution where people are cared for: a home for the elderly

To me, home’s the place where you feel most comfortable.  Geography doesn’t necessarily matter, although for some folks the most comfortable place is one from where they have easy and frequent physical access to family or friends.  For others it’s where they have easy and frequent physical access to the remote.

In my mind, therefore, care is the act of striving to make your Treasures feel “at home” no matter what geographical card they’ve been dealt.  It’s fairly obvious that we don’t all end up spending our latter years being where we planned to be.  But that shouldn’t mean that we can’t feel at home.

Let’s face it, friends.  We all either want them or we will want them! Home and Care, that is.

You’re in Home Care Country!

Make yourself comfortable because here you’re “at home.”

Brad