After a short rest from the airports (thank goodness, I missed most of the ‘no-liquids onboard’ mess, (I wouldn’t know what to do without my Dr. Pepper), it is time to hit the (hopefully) friendly skies once again.  The good news is that waiting for me at these destinations are rooms full of family caregivers.  Next week I travel to Texas twice, first to Houston to speak at the “Window into Caregiving” conference, put on by The Seniors Place and then to Austin to speak at the Area Agency on Aging’s “Striking A Balance Caregiver Conference”.  By the way, I have to say that I love both of those event titles. 

One of the things I am always happy to see at caregiving events (including our Fearless Caregiver Conferences) is the diversity of the attendees. Not just the traditional definitions of diversity, but also the diverse relationships that the caregivers share with the loved ones for whom they care. Grandparent caregivers, daughters caring for fathers, sons caring for mothers and even ex-sons-on-law caring for ex-mothers-in-law.

Despite so many new surveys and studies finally being focused upon family caregivers, it would be a mistake to start believing that our labors of love can be neatly sliced, diced and categorized. I have found as many variations on caregiving as there are in snowflakes.  The true similarities are that, no matter what differences there may be in the challenges we face, caregivers are the ones who are actually doing what needs to be done for those in need. And that’s definitely worth the trip.   

Gary Barg
Editor-in-Chief
gary@caregiver.com