Elder Abuse: Could it be Happening in Your Family?

A lot of our biggest life lessons tend to revolve around family, and especially our parents who shape and form us in so many important ways.

When you’re young and rebellious, it never occurs to you that you might find yourself on the other side of the argument someday, as a parent dealing with your own difficult child. And you certainly don’t consider that your own parents will eventually become elderly, forcing you to take on more of a parental caregiver role to them.

Even if we don’t for see these changes coming, though, they still happen. We all age. And as we do, the lessons related to our family keep on coming.

One of those lessons really came home to me recently when family members decided to take matters into their own hands about my elderly mother driving.

Situations like these call for skillful communication. More than that, though, they require a sense of respect and dignity. To take that from the people we love, and have given us so much, is a terrible thing to do. It’s also an incredibly easy trap to fall into when you’re just trying to look out for an elderly parent’s best interests.

To read the rest of my elder story on Huffington Post, follow this link… I’d love to see your comments, hear your stories, and get your feedback there!