This past week we attended a Jewish funeral and sat Shiva with a member of our Topsfield “Younger Onset” Caregiver Support Group. It was the first death of a loved one in our new-ish group (the group started 1/12/17). This event was a wake-up call for many of us.
We are companioning dementia caregivers saying a long goodbye to loved ones living with terminal illness under age 65 (until we #ENDALZ this will be the reality). For caregivers caring for loved ones under 65 with dementia, the long goodbye is usually shorter than it is for people living with dementia over age 65.
Being a new group, we needed to decide if our group would remain open to people who have transitioned from being dementia-caregivers to being survivors of dementia-caregiving. We’ve decided that our group will be open to survivors. Survivors of dementia-caregiving under age 65 have needs to stay connected to people who understand the dementia-caregiving experience under age 65, and complicated grief. Survivors of dementia-care under age 65 have wisdom to share with new dementia-caregivers under age 65. We recommend that survivors who have recently lost a loved one attend a grief support group and/or grief counseling.
We now facilitate two groups for people under 65 caring for loved ones under 65 with dementia. Our groups meet the 2nd and 4th Thursdays of each month. Please contact me if you are interested in joining one of our groups.
A. Topsfield Younger Onset Caregiver Support Group
B. FTD Boston North
Moving forward with a listening heart,
vision, inquiry, and action,
~ Mary