Pawprints From Space

Why is it always about money? Why can't it be about caring, compassion, and/or need? Why does our society look at the ill and the elderly and say: you're on your own, deal with it? Why are caregivers looked down on and/or avoid as if we had the plague? As if our compassion were somehow contagious and that it would be a bad thing if someone were to catch it? Care facilities charge upwards of $5000 a year (plus add-ons) to care for our loved ones. Loved ones who had been paying maybe a grand total of $500 a month living on their own. When I worked in HR consulting there were care facilities I assisted. I know what they pay their people - let's not kid ourselves many of these places are out to make a profit. Sometimes I think they charge this much so that they can then turn around and bill Medicaid that much in a screw the government kind of way.And the sad thing is the administrators may not even be aware of it having convinced themselves that they are helping people. So ...

It's been over a year since I last posted on this blog. So it is probably safe to assume that the three or four of you who had been following this are gone and I am writing to myself. But hey, that's what writers do ... at least for the first draft, or six. In any case - short version - my mother's dementia has gotten worse and she has moved in with me. So I have been blogging on a caregiver's website instead of here, since most of what I have had to say has been about her and her illness and the struggle to manage that and a full-time job. That's not what I want to talk to you about today however (aren't you relieved? C'mon be honest). What I want to talk about tonight is a simple, old phrase worn out by time and for many no longer containing any meaning: why can't we all just get along? I have started reading an interesting couple of books. Bigger Table: Building a Messy, Authentic and Hopeful Spiritual Community  and Building a Bridge: How t...