Hi, and welcome to boomeroptions. I appreciate you taking the time to check out this site, and I’d like to tell you a little bit about the philosophy behind my company.
Essentially, I set up boomeroptions to be a one-stop shop, to help people with older parents who are living independently.
My concept was: we have a whole segment of the population who are relatively affluent, well-educated and active; who’ve worked hard and responsibly to raise their children to be productive, independent adults, and who are looking forward to changing the focus of their lives to enjoying all they’ve worked toward for so many years.
But the reality is that, as we’re living longer and trying to get the most out of our lives, our parents are also living longer – into their 80s, 90s, and more. These older parents are determined to live independently for as long as they can, but find themselves turning to their adult children for help and support in various aspects of their lives as they age.
As adult children, we’re generally quite willing and happy to help Mom and Dad but it seems that the more help we give, the more our parents call on us for support and assistance. And so we become annoyed, frustrated, resentful,and sometimes angry and end up feeling guilty, because we feel our parents are intruding in our lives and preventing us from enjoying the lifestyle we had envisioned for ourselves as we grew older. What’s more, we’re often uncomfortable with this whole parent/child role reversal. And we often don’t realize that our parents are also experiencing frustration, resentment and discomfort with the idea that we, their children, are actually trying to parent them.
The thing is, we are concerned about an older parent who is living alone – they might fall, have a heart attack or a stroke and not be able to call for help; they might have a chronic medical condition that calls for increasing amounts of care, etc. And while the older parent says, in effect, I’ve been taking care of myself for 85 years, you don’t need to worry about me, the reality is that we do worry and worry even more as we see our parents aging and becoming more frail. But we still want to live our lives.
Often, the responsibility for dealing with the aging parents seems to fall on one primary family member, who might feel that she’s not getting very much support, or she doesn’t very knowledgeable about what options are available to help older adults stay independent in a safe and healthy environment and really doesn’t have the time it takes to research and find appropriate research options.
Our parents are on a journey through a strange land called “old age”, and we, as adult children, are only visitors, who spend more or less time helping our parents navigate the road. We don’t really understand the language and the culture of old age, and we sometimes long for a roadmap to help our parents on their journey. We also want to feel comfortable that we are finding the best paths for us and our parents to follow.
Much like a helpful and knowledgeable Tourist Information Bureau, boomeroptions works with you through the maze of resources and options available for your parent to continue to maintain an independent lifestyle – while helping you regain control of yours.
So, again, welcome to boomeroptions – take a little tour through our various pages – and if you have any questions or comments, I’d be delighted to hear from you.
For more information, call (416) 252-9010 or e-mail to info@boomeroptions.ca As accredited providers of services to seniors and their families, we proudly support our Clients’ Bill of Rights.
