Caring for an Aging Parent: Have I Done All I Can?

This is Avis Jane Ball’s dynamic, moving account of her struggle to cope with her father when, in his last years, he changed from someone lively, charming, and independent to someone she and her family could not recognise. He became angry, helpless, blind, deaf, and - something that Ball refused for some time to accept - senile. Ball’s determination to deal with her father’s slow deterioration was heartbreaking for both of them. As much as he resented being taken care of, she resented his rebellion and his indifference to her. She felt as alone as he did. As time went on, Ball and her father battled constantly about money, his lack of personal hygiene, food, everything. He paraded up and down a street carrying a picket sign that told the world that his daughter was treating him unfairly.The anger and pain he felt was shared by the author as she fought to keep her sanity and to keep her father out of a nursing home. This courageous woman’s tale will both upset and comfort those who have taken on the care of an ageing parent or relative.