I Care
       For You

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I like to hear from you,
whether it is to say "Hi!",
offer a suggestion or to ask
a question. email me at
one of the addresses below.
I promise not to give away
or sell your email address.
I don't approve of that.
I will answer your email.

JeanDonahue@gmail.com
OR
JeanDonahue@aol.com

Mom and Dad were in Oregon for the summer because Dad was making money by working as a carpenter on a blimp hangar. (That’s right.  A real blimp hangar.)  They thought they had time to get back to Iowa before I was born but I changed their mind and decided to be born in Montpelier, Idaho.  Ten days later I started traveling in a cardboard box in the back seat of the car between my two older sisters, Donella and Doreen.  Donella said that, "the box you came home in was a box that had held Eagle Brand milk.  I remember reading that."

I grew up in Iowa and went to the University of Iowa for 3-1/2 years.  I decided to leave college and became a secretary.  A few years later I fell in love.  Jack had custody of his three children, Debbie, Mary and Pat, and we became a family.  I spent many days looking through cookbooks since I didn’t know how to cook, but I learned fast.  The stork brought us two more children, Theresa and Eric.  I have included a story of their health care on this web site. A few years later  Jack and I decided to get a divorce, separating our family.  I am proud of all five children.

Later Theresa, Eric and I moved in with my parents because Mom had breast cancer and we thought Dad might need help.  To our relief the doctors were able to get all the cancer.

Dad and Mom were retired and spent their summers in Canada and winters in the south.  It worked out so well for all of us that we decided to continue living with them.  As a working single mother, living with them provided a lot of help and a good environment for us all.  Dad was a good role model for Eric and he was a good influence for Theresa.  Mom taught them to have feelings for the sick and aging.  Theresa and Eric loved their grandparents very much and Mom and Dad felt the same way about them.

Theresa married in the same year, making it possible for me to start the full-time care of Mom and Dad when Dad had a stroke.

I took care of my parents for 4 years 4 months before their deaths.  I currently have a full time job and I enjoy my life and my family.  Hobbes died in his sleep at the age of 12-1/2.  My kids decided I needed another cat - so I now have two adorable cats. Even though I tried to put the caregiving years in my past, I found I could not get away from the issues of caregiving.  There are so many people facing the need to take care of their parents, relatives, spouses, or others.

When I was taking care of Theresa & Eric (when they were young) and Mom & Dad I had a hard time getting the information I needed to make an intelligent decision about their care or future.  The professional medical person or professional caregiver has access to a lot of information, but the family caregiver does not.  I felt like I was kind of stumbling along hoping to make the right decisions in both cases.  I talked to other people with children with heart problems but I didn't know anyone else that had the problems Eric did - especially the weight problem.  When I was taking care of Mom and Dad, I didn’t know anyone else that was taking care of their mother or father and I felt like I was the only one doing it. That’s why I decided to do something to help others in those situations.  That’s why I created this web site and that’s why I am writing a book about my experiences taking care of Mom and Dad. (So far my book hasn't sold, but I intend to re-write it and try to sell it again.) I want to help others find the support and information they need whether they are taking care of their parent, spouse, significant other, child or friend - whether they are taking care of their loved one in their home like I did or in a nursing home - whether they live close to their loved one or far away.  I want to make it easier for them.

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