Episode 26: The Trans-Atlantic Caregiver

German-born Marion Brunken didn’t know any English when she came to the US in the late 1990s after winning a green card lottery that gave her permanent residency status. Now fluent in the ways and language of America, Marion is the executive director of a nonprofit organization and she’s lived in the Washington, DC area for more than 15 years. But on recent trips back to Germany she’s noticed some troubling changes in her mother’s behavior. In today’s episode Marion talks about coming to grips with her mother’s cognitive decline, the growing significance of her trans-Atlantic journeys home, and how she and her sisters are redefining their roles during this challenging new phase of their mother’s life.