I Cannot Tell A Fib

chalkboard angel

Well, maybe once after I came back from summer vacation, and told my classmates that Lloyd Bridges, from the TV show Sea Hunt, had invited me to spend the summer with him on his boat, the Argonaut. I was eight.

When my third grade crush, Michael Dots, doubted my story, I ran out of class and on to the playground where I promptly tripped and fell. If you’re wondering what was more humiliating – lying there by the tetherball pole with sand up my skirt or having my credibility questioned, it was definitely the latter. Because even as a kid, being someone people could trust was important to me.

It still is. And that’s why you’re reading this embarrassing childhood tale. To demonstrate my willingness to share honest, salty sweet stories and advice in The Dutiful Daughter’s Guide, which illustrate the darkness, the light, the exhaustion and the humor to be found in loving and caring for aging parents.

In this day and age, growing old with grace and dignity is fraught with challenges, as is family caregiving. When we’re not afraid to acknowledge that, we can then begin an honest, openhearted dialogue that can change things for the better.

Stay with me. There’s so much more to come.