From Across Generations: Care Stories from Students Part One

As part of the Caring Across Generations campaign, the Student Labor Action Project is proud to present a series of care stories from students. These stories not only show the true human impact of homecare in the country, but also that it is an issue that is not relegated to the elderly or adults.

Submit your own care story here.

The first story in the series comes from University of Massachusetts-Amherst student Avery Fuerst. Avery is a rising senior studying History, German and Civic Engagement. At UMass she is involved in student organizing and advocacy.

Here is her story.

“At the beginning of my 6th grade year my Oma, my German grandmother, died. While my German grandfather, Opa, could still walk around very well for an 81 year old man, he still needed help showering, preparing food and taking his medications. Being with family and taking care of each other has always been really important to my family, so we naturally did not want Opa to be alone. Even before my grandmother died it was clear that if anything happened to either of them that they would come live with us instead of going to a home.

Opa lived with us for 5 years. He alternating between living with us and living my uncle. My dad was his primary caretaker as my mom and I were out at school and work all day. Every day my dad prepared and ate all his meals with his father, helped him clean himself, scheduled out his medications, and watched the German news with him. When Opa was feeling up to it my dad would bring him to my swim practices and meets or to my school so he could watch kids playing.  My dad made sure to cook Opa’s favorite meals for him regularly and drive him back to Germany for all his doctor appointments and to visit Oma’s grave.

When Opa wasn’t feeling well my dad would sit up with him. When Opa woke up in the middle of the night and couldn’t remember where the toilet was, my dad would clean up the pee in the living room. During my sophomore year of high school Opa started waking up confused more often. On Thanksgiving Day 2006 he woke up particularly confused. We had all made plans to go out to do some shopping that day, but my dad stayed behind to take care of Opa. Later that afternoon Opa was hospitalized, and three days later during my ride home from swim practice he died. The next few days are the only days I remember seeing my dad cry. In those days after my grandfather’s death, I realized what it means to truly love and care for someone. Danke, Pappi. (Thank you, Daddy.)”

Share your own story and help to change how we care in this country.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 29th, 2012 at 3:22 pm. It is filed under Blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.