This post is sponsored by Ready to Care. These are important messages for all of us with aging parents and relatives.
I’m happy to be working with Ready to Care again this year, sharing their message of taking care of our seniors. Our seniors really are so valuable to all of us as a society. Just think of what they have experienced in their lives. I think of my own parents and all they’ve seen and done in their 91 years. They have lived full lives already and are still here on this earth with us and for that I’m grateful.
My dad is a retired minister and mom was a wonderful preacher’s wife to him. Together they pastored several churches during my childhood through adult years and accomplished so many things together. They’ve experienced so much in life that my generation hasn’t experienced, like the Depression era. That left an indelible imprint on them as a generation and they are unique in that sense. They are a tough generation, but they still need our help as they age.
They definitely have value to us as a society here in the U.S. Their knowledge and wisdom is invaluable. Their experiences are unique to them and the stories they can tell are important to hear. Seniors have raised children, started businesses, volunteered and gained decades of wisdom. They are an integral part of the fabric of our society.
I’m so glad my parents are a part of Parker and Iris’s lives. I think these girls will remember them for the rest of their lives even after they are gone. Grandparents have such an impact on the younger generations.
We are going to miss this generation of seniors when they are gone. They bring a stabilizing factor to our society that younger generations do not have.
As seniors age and my parents too, they need our help. We can all make a difference through acts of kindness. And we can inspire future generations to continue caring for our senior community members.
My sister and I make a point to have lunch with our parents once a week. Do you think they look forward to that? Yes, they definitely do and tell us that all the time! I know they sometimes feel lonely in their house together since they don’t get out as often as they used to.
My niece, Lauren, has always had a soft spot for senior adults and has an extra special bond with her grandparents. She wants to instill that love in her own girls.
When we go and see them even for just an hour or two, they love it. When the girls come to town, they really love spending time with them. We do what we can to help our parents in these last years of their lives and I know they appreciate having us there for them.
Whether it’s doing lunch once a week, going with them to doctor’s appointments when needed, or listening to what’s going on in their lives, and making decisions on things, we’re there for them. We discuss things together as a family.
What can we all do to help our seniors?
Ready to Care is an initiative by Home Instead Senior Care® to enhance the lives of aging adults and their families. Just through awareness and simple acts of kindness and care, the initiative aims to expand the world’s capacity to care for older adults.
That’s a really good initiative that I can get behind! After all, my generation is aging too. We all want to be well cared for as we age.
Ready to Care challenges people to complete Care Missions right there in your community. They guide members through various ways to give to causes that help seniors, to learn about the aging crisis and issues impacting seniors, and to serve seniors through small actions or volunteering.
Each week, a new Care Mission is delivered right to the participants’ phones via text message. That sounds easy, doesn’t it? It doesn’t take a lot of effort to help, so I would encourage all of us to sign up with Ready to Care.
If you don’t have a senior in your life that you’re caring for, this would be a great opportunity to get involved.
Why the focus on seniors?
Did you know that older adults are at greater risk of experiencing things like limited mobility, chronic conditions or feeling isolated?
When older folks don’t have immediate family to look after them, their lives are harder to navigate and a helping hand is in order.
I hope you’ll check out Ready to Care and consider signing up today! If we all do a little bit, it will help a lot.
Such a good reminder of how important your parents generation is and how aging needs to be considered and cared for. Thank you for this post. We will be there some day and recognizing the societal value they bring is critical to Parker and Iris’s generation…..
Hi, Andrea, it sure is! The younger generation is so different from our seniors of today. They need to learn some of those lessons and life values our parents have learned.
My mom’s greatest wish was to be able to live in her own home until she died. Because of Home Instead coming in a few days a week to help with chores, grocery shopping, and doctor appointments, she was home and independent until just a few days before she unexpectedly passed. What a blessing! It’s important to remember not all personalities mesh well, and Home Instead was really good about helping us find the right fit.
HI, Roxanne, that’s a great story! I know my parents would love to stay in their home all the way til the end of their life too. We hope that can happen for them as well. It’s good to have help with companies that can make a difference.
Great post, Rhoda! And of course I love love LOVE the pics of my precious Aunt Iris and Uncle Al and all of your sweet family! 🙂
We all hope that our parents can stay in their home as long as possible. My mother had to go into assisted living for almost two years. The cost was around $125,000.00. This has really brought home to me that we all need to start planning for our future now. I see so many that live for today with no plans for how they will take care of themselves in the future. My mom saved but it wasn’t nearly enough. The money goes really fast.
Betty, that is a good reminder at how fast the $$ can go once a person has to go into a facility. We all hope that it won’t happen to our parents and to us, but we don’t know what the future holds. I just have to trust the Lord that he will provide.
Thank you, Jan, I know you and your sisters understand all of this all too well as your parents are still living on their own, but need help at times too. We do the best we can!
timely subject for all as our parents age, thank you – I see each of the little girls in your parents – so special that they are able to spend time together 🙂
I love this post. I’m a sandwich senior. That how I feel anyway. Needed by a parent and my one of my children. I have no doubts that my 2 children will help me and my husband as we get older. But one child is nearly 1800 miles away. And my other child has her hands full with family. Her husband has lupus and her 2nd child, 1 of 4 grands, has Type1Diabetes. So all I know to do is prepare best we can for our even later years. Hopefully to have a much smaller home to care for. All debts taken care of. A hefty saving accounts and other investments. It’s nice to know that there are organizations out there who really want to aid younger seniors, older seniors and medically handicapped seniors.
HI, Diane, it is definitely something we all need to think about. We don’t know what the future holds and I try not to get scared, but I know how fast money can go when there are medical issues. It is nice to have organizations who can help seniors, since our generation of seniors is going to be HUGE!
your dad is the BOMB!! and your mom’s nothing to sniff at, neither!!! good genes!!
Thank you today for this message. My husband is 85 and I am his primary care giver not because we don’t have the funds for getting help but because don’t know where to look. We relocated closer to children but they all work and have limited time for us. I will look into Ready to Care. We are outside of Birmingham in the fast growing area of Chelsea.
HI, Sue, you may not know this but I used to live near Chelsea back when I first started this blog in 2007. I hope you can find some help and definitely check out Ready to Care and see if you can get on their list for help.
What a lovely post. Your love and devotion to your Mom and Daddy touches my heart. You are so blessed to have them in your life still, and I know that you know that. I agree with everything you said, there are no better teachers and the wisdom and knowledge they possess is unmatched. I wish everyone was as grateful to have their parents around as you are. This post is a great reminder of that….
Thank you, Patricia, I appreciate all of you out there who follow along!
What a precious post Rhoda! You have been here to visit and Know that Paul and I live in this beautiful area of Texas where everyone is 55+ which is so lovely, but every time we hear an ambulance or a fire truck, we know that it is probably not a good thing. We hear those sirens often. Hubby and I have had our own share of health issues in the last three years which gets your attention. I tell everyone that I am not afraid of dying. Thank You Jesus! Getting sick and lingering does! I love your Mother and Dad. They are so much like my Mama and Daddy. Your entire family, wonderful Godly people. Salt of The Earth. Girl, what a legacy we have. We have so much to be thankful for. Precious Memories! Love you Friend.
Hey, Judy, we sure do have a lot of blessings and a lot to be thankful for. I’m more grateful for my parents’ legacy more than ever as I grow older myself.
Rhoda,
What a perfectly timed post as we mark the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings today and are reminded what this generation sacrificed to give us the freedoms we have today. We owe this generation everything so all we can do to make their final years comfortable is something we should all strive for.
I had the honor of being at the National D-Day Memorial today in Bedford, VA today to salute those WWII veterans of the Greatest Generation and it was a moving tribute and ceremony with Vice President Mike Pence giving the keynote speech.
Hi, Teresa, you are so right, that generation did so much for us as a country and they did it selflessly. My dad never fought in WW2, but he went overseas at the end of the war.
Hi, Rhoda! What a precious post. Do you happen to know the green paint color in your mother’s living room? It’s the picture where your greatniece is sitting in your mom’s lap (wicker chair). Sorry to trouble you, but I must use that color! Thanks and love your blog! Hugs from Texas! [email protected]
Sounds like a wonderful organization, Rhoda. It breaks my heart to see seniors without family – or without family who is there for them – and I think about how scary that must be. We, as aging Boomers, are becoming more aware of how valuable our relationships with our senior family members, friends and neighbors are. You’re a wonderful example for all of us for how to care for aging parents by being there for them, spending time with them and valuing their experiences and opinions. Your weekly ‘lunch with thenoarents’ stories are favorites. xo
good family values being instilled in those precious children… your parents still look quite lively and I love to see them smiling. Both my parents are gone and my only child is in ministry many miles away. I hope when the time comes for my husband and me to seek help that there are still organizations around like this. Have a lovely weekend. Your blog is always about more than just stuff!
Thank you, Becky, I’m glad to share more than just stuff, life is made up of so many facets, isn’t it?!
Well said! I live 98 miles from my parents but try to go down at least once a month. I try to purge and clean up a little. And I always make them some meals and definitely desserts. I have siblings and older nieces that help out also. My dad isn’t always ready to accept the help but mom sure is:) My in-laws now live permanently in Florida (from Effingham, Illinois) and we try to make it down there 2 or 3 times a year. I’m definitely in the sandwich years.🙃