family

When it’s All in the Family

Posted on 04/4/2013 by Al Martinez | Latino Life | Comments

Home & Family | Legacy | Your LifeWe had a family gathering last Sunday to observe the advent of spring, the second anniversary of our daughter’s death, and the 65th anniversary of my first date with Cinelli. We greeted them all with noise and laughter. It didn’t feel like spring. It was raining on our town in the Santa Monica Mountains and the sky was as gray as steel . But the peach trees in our yard had blossomed into shades of white and strawberry pink and …

Learning to Say No to Doctors

Posted on 03/8/2013 by Chuck Ross | Caregiving | Comments

Caregiving | Home & Family | Personal Health | Your LifeThrough a post on the New York Times’ New Old Age blog, I learned of a great initiative by the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) Foundation to help patients understand they’re allowed to just say “no.” The effort is called “Choosing Wisely,” and it’s bringing together many medical specialties to help patients and doctors understand when specific tests and treatments do — and don’t — make sense. (AARP also has covered the program). If you’ve spent any time helping …

The Fiscal Crisis of Families

Posted on 02/28/2013 by Debra Whitman | Public Policy | Comments

Money & SavingsWashington and the news media have long been focused on a series of budget deadlines and fiscal dramas. But a different headline stood out for me the other day, as I read a story in the Washington Post: “Fiscal Trouble Ahead for Most Future Retirees.” The story provided dramatic support for recent findings of AARP’s Public Policy Institute that the security of middle class Americans is under attack from all sides. AARP’s Middle Class Security Project and the Post article …

The Organized Caregiver: Documents and Easily Accessible Tech Tools

Posted on 02/22/2013 by Amy Goyer | Aging, Home & Family Expert | Comments

Caregiving | Home & Family | Relationships | Technology Being organized is the key to success for all caregivers, but it can definitely be a challenge to gather and keep track of all the important documents and information you’ll need. I suggest you gather your loved one’s information in one secure place for easy access. Here are the documents I’ve found to be critical as I am caregiving for my parents, and (above) my Taking Care with Amy Goyer video on cool tech tools to help you stay organized and …

How a Random Act of Kindness Helped Me Heal

Posted on 02/21/2013 by Laura Hahn | Volunteering | Comments

Home & Family | Legacy | RelationshipsIt was my first trip to Pennsylvania since Pop Pop passed away, and I was equal parts excited and apprehensive — excited because it was (and is) my favorite place on the planet; nervous because my favorite person wouldn’t be there. My grandfather, the Bernie in my blog Arthur & Bernie, wouldn’t be in his chair in the living room, or a short walk away at the nursing home, where he spent his final year. Would it be depressing? Would …

Another Flu Season -Ahhh, the Memories!

Posted on 02/18/2013 by Chuck Ross | Caregiving | Comments

Caregiving | Home & Family | Personal Health | Your LifeFlu season will forever remind me of my father. “That’s an odd association,” I can almost hear you saying. “Was he particularly prone to the illness? Did a particularly bad case of it hit him hard?” Well, no to both those questions –aside from all his chronic conditions, Dad was generally healthy as a horse. The connection resides in his lifelong refusal, in the face of nurses’ please and doctors’ dire warnings, to ever get vaccinated. Those conversations arose at …