In 2023, overnight I became the sole caregiver for my rapidly declining 83 year old father living in NJ. Within three months of his initial hospital visit, he deteriorated physically and mentally, moved into advanced stages of dementia and passed away.

 

The only living child of divorced parents, I was single and living in CA, and there was no one else but me. Unable to continue working with the caregiving obligations, I traveled back and forth across the country frequently and at the end, I spent ten days straight with him in his skilled nursing facility until his passing.

 

Through all of this I got a crash course in systems like Medicare and Medicaid, I learned how to be an advocate and ask the right questions, and I learned how to navigate the legal, financial and emotional challenges. Within months of my father's passing, my 83 year old mother's dementia progressed to a point where I had to sell her condo and move her to assisted living. I found myself again traveling back and forth to NJ to assist in the transition. Since that time my mom has moved into memory care, broken her hip from a fall, undergone months of rehabilitation and moved back to her long term facility and into late stage dementia.

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Through my journey, I found resources woefully lacking. I didn't seem to fit into any specific group, and I could not find a coach or therapist with similar lived experience who made me feel supported, heard, and prepared.

 

In 2025 I relocated to the east coast to be a shorter distance from my mom and to take over guardianship of her blind, deaf and special needs 15-year old cockapoo.

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Driven by my own experience, I am pursuing a Master of Social Work with a gerontology concentration at the University of Pittsburgh. As a certified coach and future Licensed Social Worker, it is my deepest desire to help caregivers navigate this chapter with the compassion, empathy, and knowledge that leaves them feeling empowered, heard, prepared, informed and most importantly, not alone.