Friday, October 19, 2012

Amy Grant talks (and sings) about Caring for Aging Parents on Katie Couric, and I was there...


What do Katie Couric, Amy Grant and I all have in common?

We have all gone through - and are still in the middle of - caring for aging parents through their physical and mental declines.

And how do I know this?

Katie and me
I was invited to the taping of Katie's show on Taking Care of Aging Parents, which airs today (at 3 pm here in NYC, check local listing for elsewhere), as a special audience blogger/tweeter. It's a lovely way Katie and her show are actively engaging bloggers and the social-media-connected generation.

I was also asked to contribute a post for the Katie show blog, and you can find it here: Caring For My Aging Parents

I highly recommend you watch this show if you have any interest in this topic, or even if you don't but you have still living parents or other older people in your life you may end up caring for some day. And even though it may SEEM years away still, you never know what fresh disaster is just around the corner (ever the eternal optimist, I know) to make that hazy "someday" instantly morph into today.

It is intense, exhausting, deeply rewarding, filled with love and sorrow, and something nobody thinks about - or wants to think about - until it is thrust upon them. It's better to be prepared. Don't turn away just because it's unpleasant to think about. Watch and start to plan now!

Also Amy Grant gifted us with a live performance - the world premiere of a new song that she wrote for her parents, her mother now passed on, her father deep in the throws of a grave dementia.

Amy Grant performing on Katie

Blogging the show was a great experience. I got to hang out in the green room beforehand, watch the show from the front row, and comment on it throughout via my twitter stream. Katie sat next to us bloggers during Amy's moving song.

Me at Katie

It was also fun to be back on a soundstage, reminding me of my former life in film & TV production. Sigh. And then it was back to "real life" (taking care of kids and mom).


8 comments:

  1. What a lovely opportunity to attend the performance and also to go back stage. I am feeling homesick for my mum, who lives so far away from me. Hope your mum is okay.

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  2. so great, love katie's new show!

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  3. Wonderful and congratulations! I imagine they've never had a more sensitive wiser guest --

    I lived in Nashville many, many years ago and waited tables at a famous restaurant that Amy came into all the time -- I can't believe how young she still looks -- spookily almost exactly the same!

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    1. She is beautiful! And, more importantly, she is just as beautiful on the inside! :)

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  4. I like what Katie's doing on that show. Glad you got this opportunity to be part of the aging parents one.

    =)

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  5. Great post! It was nice meeting you!

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  6. I'm going to have to find this online and watch. I have been a fan of Amy Grant's for years. Admittedly, I don't listen to her like I used to, but when I was a teenager and into my 20s, she provided a soundtrack to my life. She's a talented singer/songwriter. Her Christmas hymn, Breath of Heaven, is exquisite.

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  7. caregiver support groups
    Caregiver Space. The work we do at The Caregiver Space stems from our commitment to ensuring caregivers feel seen, heard and most of all supported.

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I am so sorry to have to turn word verification back on, but the spam-bots have found me - yikes!