Family
How do the children, grandchildren, friends and other relatives find a way to work together to support older people?
Bridging the distance between us
This week’s storyteller is Sally.When Sally’s parents both became ill and dependent on others, Sally resisted the pressure to turn her life upside down and go home to help. She tells us about the struggle to help from a distance and relieve the load on family who stayed nearby. At the young age of 49, […]
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Helping our parents to feel that they’re not a burden
We’re bound to feel frustrated with our parents sometimes, but do we want them to feel eternally grateful to us? You’ve given up yet another Sunday to spend it in A&E with a parent. Your partner’s come too, and between you you’ve been running errands all afternoon – driving off to your parent’s house to […]
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Coming home – or at least nearby
This week’s storyteller has chosen to be anonymous.When’s the right time to move a parent to be close to you? Does removing some parental challenges mean introducing new ones? My mum is a healthy lady in her early 70s. She and dad moved away from our home town some years ago, building a full and […]
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I can’t believe you said that
Remember when you hit that age in your teens when overnight your parents seemed to become excruciatingly embarrassing? You didn’t want to be seen in their space because you never knew when they would next say something truly toe-curling? Well here’s some news for you. It could be about to happen again. Here are two […]
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Review: The Hilton on Park Lane
Written by Kathy Lawrence We’re always looking for opportunities for families to enjoy time together, so when the Hilton on Park Lane invited us to see what’s on offer for the “silver” generation, we went armed with a list of questions but prepared to enjoy. Our review looks separately at Afternoon Tea and overnight stays. […]
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When dementia brings death to your door
When When They Get Older launched last year Jill Sinclair, The Glasgow Herald blogger, became a supporter, contributor and friend. She shared with us just how important it was to talk about dementia, in particular her Father’s, and the therapeutic quality blogging holds for her. In 2012 Jill moved back to Scotland to care for […]
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10 questions to ask your parents before it’s too late
Written by Kathy Lawrence There are some questions that are really hard to ask, but knowing the answers can greatly relieve the pressure in times of emergency or end of life. We’ve put together 10 questions to ask before it becomes necessary. How you ask them is up to you – but probably not as […]
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My strategy for coping with grief
Grief is something no one is really prepared for. Maureen Meredith tells us how she coped with losing her mum and dad as well as her son in the space of 16 years. She talks about navigating stages of mourning and ways to bear the sadness. My mum was an angel on earth. Everyone flocked […]
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Talking about death over dinner
Written by Rebecca Lenton This week’s storyteller has chosen to be anonymous. Our storyteller shares how broaching the subject of dying with your parents doesn’t have to be hard, especially when your mum brings up her own death at the dinner table. When Sunday lunch turns into a talk about keeling over you know that […]
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How dad’s humour eased his death
This week’s storyteller is Gill. A terminal illness is hard for anyone to come to terms with but when Gill’s dad was diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease he dealt with it in a surprising way – through humour. She tells us how his jokes eased the pain of his passing and ensured his family remained […]
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