Coming of Age with Aging Parents: The Bungles, Battles, and Blasings

I appreciated the laughter and this woman has wit. I needed to laugh in order to read some painful chapters, which are short, but raise tough questions. I especially appreciated the questions raised,the aphorisms ("If you entertain notions of outwitting your parent, you could be in for a rude awakening")and the insights.

In the midst of eldercare with our parents, I've read and re-read Gail's book. Through many and diverse experiences, she shares with unusual candor, humor and insight the pain and the joys of caring for parents. She acknowledges the deep and often hidden hurts, the anger, and the denial involved. She exposes the rivalry and family dynamics that surface with eldercare. And, she shares how difficult but important healing...or at least letting go...can be. Gail's compassion, combined with her intelligence and experience, are evident throughout. Her expertise and ideas give me guidance, hope and assurance that we, too, can survive these trials and tribulations of eldercare that at times totally overwhelm us. And she helps me feel human with the extremes of emotion eldercare elicits in me.

The babyboom generation has now squarely arrived at that stage where they must now bear the burden of caring for their aging parents with all that this familial responsibility involves. In Coming Of Age With Aging Parents: The Bungles, Battles, And Blessings, eldercare specialist Gail Goeller (who garnered real-world experience through tending to the needs and necessities of her own aging family of five) offers a wealth of anecdotal experience and practical advice through real-life stories that deal with everything from late-night phone calls and parental self-diagnosis, to managing angry outbursts, all manner of emergencies, care-giver burnout, and end-of-life requests. After each illustrative story, readers are provided with questions crated to help them reframe events in their own eldercare experience in order to emerge from their reading with fresh perspectives on eldercare and an "increased purpose, power, and happiness". If you find yourself having to assist aging parents, then available yourself of the superbly presented eldercare wisdom accessibly offered up in Gail Goeller's Coming Of Age With Aging Parents!

What a poignant wake-up call for those of us who haven't "walked the walk" yet.

Gail has created a fantastic resource for caregivers, and for everyone who will eventually need or be one, so that's just about everybody. She intersperses her real-life stories with her family with practical answers to a wide range of eldercare situations. At the end of each story, probing questions helps the reader sort through their own situation with a fresh perspective and reach effective solutions. Unique and very nicely done! Jacqueline Marcell, Author, 'Elder Rage', and Host of the 'Coping with Caregiving' Internet Radio Program.