Often when a decision is made to care for an elderly parent, it is after they have had a serious illness or a hospitalization, then the realization comes that they can't live alone any more. Family members are called, and plans get under way for who will care for the parent.

In my opinion, it's the family's responsibility to care for their elderly parents as long as they are physically, mentally and financially able. Put yourself in your parent's shoes, and ask yourself where you would rather be? Cared for at home- or by total strangers at a nursing home?
I believe we should care for our parents out of a sense of duty, commitment to family, and to honor thy parents, just as our parents did for their parents, and so, on. Leave the assisted living and nursing home open as an option, only when the burden becomes physically, or emotionally, too much.

Two years ago, my mother was moved to Ohio, and I began caring for her at home. Only six weeks before her passing, was when she went in a nursing home after an illness and stretch in the hospital, but by that point, she didn't really realize where she was. I held her hand right up until the last moments of her life. While it was the most difficult time I have ever been through, I wouldn't have changed anything. I stand by my opinion, that it is the family's responsibility to care for our elderly parents, no matter how much it may inconvenience our life. It is the right, descent, just thing to do whenever possible.

Virginia Wright
Freelance Writer
Jacobsburg, Ohio