When it comes to aging parents, working daughters often feel they have to choose between being a good employee and being a good daughter. After her father died Illinois resident Maggie McClane chose to be a good daughter: she left her job as a paralegal and moved in with her 89-year-old mother to provide her with 24/7 care. Maggie’s mom has Alzheimer’s disease, is nearly blind because of macular degeneration and also has severe vertigo from a stroke. In today’s episode we catch up with Maggie after speaking with her nearly a year ago. Maggie talks about the odd experience of having the house to herself now that her mom is in rehab, how she deals with second guessing from her non-caregiver siblings and why it no longer bothers Maggie that her mom isn’t always plugged into reality. She also talks about her fears of financial insecurity as she ages, her strategy for getting back to paid work and how she’ll deal with the pressure of vacating the house after her mother dies. She tells us what’s good in her life, what she still struggles with and how her attitude has changed in the four years she’s lived with and cared for her mom.
Subscribe to The Agewyz Podcast: iTunes
Got a story to share? Email us any time at jana@agewyz.com
Listen to our previous interview with Maggie (July 2017): The Hardest Job I’ll Ever Love
Illinois facility mentioned in the show: Memorial Care Center
Maggie McClane
Music: “Upbeat” by Jon Luc Hefferman | CC BY NC | Free Music Archive
Scattered: My Year As An Accidental Caregiver is available in paperback and eBook at
