#4 Caregiving TIP: Men are CAREGIVERS, too!

    from When My Mother No Longer Knew My Name: a son's "course" in "rational" caregiving by Stephen L. Goldstein, Ph.D.

       Caregiving isn't JUST for women. Most people are shocked to learn that about 34 percent of ALL caregivers in the U.S. are men. By one estimate that's 14.5 million men; by another, as high as 22 million.

       Make sure that ALL the men in your family play a PROMINENT role in your family caregiving.

       I especially want to give hope to mothers and fathers whose sons are their likeliest caregiver. A commonly accepted MISPERCEPTION in America today is that if you want to be cared for in your old age, you'd better have a daughter. Traditionally, a son is thought to be LOST to his own family, co-opted by his wife's Even my mother believed it; at least, as a child, I recall her saying, in addition to my brother and me, she would have liked to have had a least one daughter to remain close to her.

       Happily, I proved my mother wrong. In 1998, just before her 80th birthday, I invited her to move in with me. And during the 10-plus years we lived together, she discovered I cared about and for her at least as well as any two daughters combined. My brother was always "there" for her, too.

       Help & Hope for caregivers & potential caregivers: Read Stephen Goldstein's how-to/memoir. Today, order YOUR copy of When My Mother No Longer Knew My Name: a son's "course" in "rational" caregiving: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=when+my+mother+no+longer+knew+my+name