If you have parents, they are aging. Let’s Talk About Aging Parents is a cheeky yet practical guide to having tricky conversations about retirement homes, dementia, taking car keys away, and the physical and mental challenges most older adults have with aging in place.
The book offers 27 prompts and roadmaps for having clear conversations with your parents and the other caregivers in their lives. There are jokes and asides to help ease the painful realization that none of this is easy. Medical issues often come to mind, but what about toxic sibling relationships? Age-proofing a house seems clear but what if your parents refuse help?
Laura Tamblyn Watts has advice and “plan Bs” for every situation. She’s a voice of reason in the otherwise fraught land of advice books. I starred a lot of paragraphs and made notes in the margin. I also recommended the parents in my life have a copy of their own. If we are all on the same playbook, then they can point out the approaches they would prefer.
Now … to go have those conversations.