Where Is the Love?

Those of us who work on the professional side of care management rarely hear both sides of the story when a family member chooses to take no responsibility for an ailing parent. More often than not, we don’t get the facts about what led up to the family’s estrangement. The following is another example of love and compassion taking a back seat to the provision of care. This directive came to me from an adult daughter who had moved her mother into our retirement community. “There is no love between me and my mother. I look after her for purely custodial care.”