Hospice Love Story (Video 3:58)

He’s Harvey Mehlhaff, a retired Baptist minister who has been paralyzed from the waist down due to prostate cancer since April, 2010. She’s Carol, his loving wife and devoted caregiver. Together they

celebrate a marriage that has lasted 51 years. He teases her about hugs and kisses, while she blushes with the sweetness of a young bride. They love hospice. But, most of all, they cherish each other and look forward to living each day to the fullest.

Read about who leaves hospice alive. Discharges can occur for several reasons: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/leaving-hospice-alive-research-nursing-home-story-parker?trk=mp-reader-card

Frances Shani Parker, Author

Becoming Dead Right: A Hospice Volunteer in Urban Nursing Homes is available in paperback and e-book editions in America and other countries at online and offline booksellers.

Hospice and Nursing Homes Blog

Young Celebrate Older Adults Through Dance (Research, Video)

Some young people don’t seem to have a clue that older adults are the major reasons they enjoy many of life's pleasures. If they really appreciated the sacrifices that were made for them by previous generations, not just in their families, but society in general, perhaps they would understand that many of these older adults are entitled to far more respect than they are receiving from them.

I have witnessed outstanding young students displaying great kindness toward older people on many occasions. But I have also viewed lots of young people on the Internet in so-called funny videos mimicking older people in the most insensitive ways. Stereotypes were used in the extreme with language and graphics defying human decency. In addition, some young adults are guilty of mistreating older adults in terms of crime, service, and general courtesy. In a study published in Research on Aging where older adults were asked if they received worse service and if people treated them with less respect and courtesy because they were older, one in three said they felt they were treated worse because of their age.

Recently, I discovered this amazing video with young dancers celebrating the love and vibrancy of older aging. Keone and Mariel Madrid, dance choreographers who are a young married couple, perform a routine as an older couple to Bob Marley's "Is This Love?” Like the song says, older adults just want to be loved and treated right.  Who doesn’t?

Frances Shani Parker, Author

Becoming Dead Right: A Hospice Volunteer in Urban Nursing Homes is available in paperback and e-book editions in America and other countries at online and offline booksellers.

Hospice and Nursing Homes Blog

Alzheimer's Dementia: Love Before and After (Video 4:42)

If you know a good love story, share it. George and Adriana Cuevas have a great love story. Beginning 87 years ago, their love reigns eternal. They met as children with trillions of dreams and no certainties about their futures. Distance sat between them for 15 long years. But they continued as pen pals until love brought them back together like inseparable magnets.

The day finally arrived when their love was celebrated in marriage. Children followed with lots of reasons for George and Adriana to cherish their mutual joy while stringing memories together. But dementia, a terminal illness with many challenges, also became an integral part of their relationship. Sometimes love is too magnificent to explain, but the story must still be told. When The Mind Says Goodbye does that:

Frances Shani Parker, Author

Becoming Dead Right: A Hospice Volunteer in Urban Nursing Homes is available in paperback at many booksellers in America and other countries and in e-book form at Amazon and Barnes and Noble booksellers.

Hospice and Nursing Homes Blog