The staggering, exhausting, invisible costs of caring for America's elderly

[FalloutShelter]

1. I went through this with Mom, Dad, and Mother in-law-over seven years.

All were deteriorating more or less at the same time. My husband and I lived between 2 and 4 hours away from the folks. Every weekend for seven years and many weeks in between, we traveled to take care of and oversee their care, once they had been placed in, hospital, rehab, nursing home, home care, and finally hospice. It was incredibly draining and, at times, punishing on our careers and our marriage. Thank god they had some savings because the nursing costs ran into hundreds of thousands of dollars. Over three months in late 2017, we had four funerals: my MIL, my Mom, Mt brother'dsMIL, and FIL.

We felt that we had just gotten our feet under us again when COVID struck. I thank GOD we did not have to go through this DURING COVID. My heart goes out to everyone who has had this struggle with less support and resources.

Thanks for posting this article.