Dare to Care

A Guide to Caring for Aging Parents and Loved Ones at Home

By: Beth Carriedo Hook, Susan Carriedo Alba, Mary Lee Otis Bailey, Katinka A. Hartendorp, Rich Lee, Elaine Carriedo Lozano, Kathy Morris, Joji Caro Tipace, Dan Weeks, Harriet Weeks

Narrated by: Pegeen Singley

Dare to Care: A Guide to Caring for Aging Parents and Loved Ones at Home. The challenges and experiences of in-home caregiving

Dare to Care is a personal reflection of the love and care that is offered by carers for love, honor, and duty. It tells the life stories of the author and nine others in caring for a loved one at home and the profound affection they had for each other. This is one story about home caregiving that is very relevant and much needed in times of pandemic and non-pandemic. Many families and homes all over the world can relate to the author’s personal experience in caregiving. Dare to Care is a most beautiful, heartening, and touching story—a one-of-a-kind story worth re-telling and learning from.

The book is written in two parts: Part I is about the challenges and experiences faced by the author in looking after her centenarian mother-in-law in the last few years of her life and the very special bond that was formed. Believing how her experience as a caregiver had changed her profoundly for the better, she decided to share the story of this unique and special period in her life. Part II is a collection of loving stories by nine other caregivers whose lives were also touched and makes the book a fascinating read. Together, the book gives an insight into various aspects of caregiving, both physical and psychological.

The listeners will be uplifted by the loving devotion to the details of care, required of caregivers. As their moving stories unfold, in caring for someone who would become almost—if not completely—dependent on the carer, surprisingly, it is the giver who benefits the most!

©2022 Beth Carriedo Hook (P)2022 Beth Carriedo Hook

Every Caregiver Needs this Encouraging Book!

This book provided timely words of encouragement, and helped renewed strength and vision that our family needed right now. It also made me cry with the personal, heartwarming and real details. So thankful for the authors who bravely and authentically shared their hearts and stories.

My 96-year-old grandma has been living in my parents’ home for exactly two years. I moved back from overseas one year ago and have had the privilege of helping them care for her in this season.

We are incredibly blessed and honored to have Grandma with us and be the ones providing the physical and emotional care she needs. We are grateful for an amazing team of caregivers who love Grandma and are here for her and for us as well.

But it is not always easy. I listened to this audiobook just days after an emotional roller-coaster of a couple of weeks where Grandma’s health declined so suddenly that we wondered each day if it might be the day that she would be leaving our house for her forever home in Heaven. Thankfully, she is stronger and “herself” again, and it seems we’ll have more time together here, in the daily routines, and “just talking,” our favorite pastime.

While every family’s story of caring for elderly members is different, there are so many common threads that stood out in this book and mirror our experiences. Knowing that others deal with the same emotions and challenges and joys that we do helped us feel that we are not alone, and that our experiences are “normal.” And it provided ideas of how to care for Grandma even better, based on practical advice and experiences from each story.

The stories in this beautifully written book overflow with affection, love, respect, honor, gratitude, and faith. So much of what carers shared resonated with my mom and I and our experiences in taking care of Grandma.

If you are a carer for a loved one or any elderly person, listen to this audio book today! You will be encouraged and inspired and blessed by the stories in this book. And if you know a family or individual caring for an elderly person, they most certainly can use extra support and encouragement, no matter how well they are doing. So please buy this book as a gift for them!

Wonderful audiobook!

I really appreciated this book!

There is so much great content on how to maximize the life quality of aging loved ones around you. We often take for granted the love and care that our parents provided us through thick and thin. The least we can do is support them in their vulnerable stages in life. After all, we all wish our children would do the same.

This book is packed with a ton of easy to apply techniques that will keep your parents appreciative and give you the power to show your gratitude and help aging parents. Definitely recommend this book to all.

Humble story of love and care for one's parents

I truly appreciated gaining an insight into someone else's story of their love and devotion to their parents, because it's how I feel about mine. The relationship we have with our parents can be as complex as it is simple, but as this book explores the nature of caregiving and all that it entails, it highlights how different the role of caregiver is from simply being someone's son or daughter.

When this book described the dependence that our parents have on their caregivers, it almost makes it a no-brainer that it should have a child that provides it. However, when you truly realize how absolutely responsible you would be as their caregiver, it fundamentally highlights how reversed the roles are.

Be happy with your loved ones until the end

Taking care of aging/sick family members is not easy when it is your first time. This book guides you to be prepared to become a compassionate caregiver, and how to take care of them in the right way by sharing many heartfelt stories. I learned a lot by listening to this book on various aspects of caregiving. I hope I can be a loving caregiver for my family members when the time comes. Highly recommend this book to all.

Valuable guide for caregivers

This audiobook gives insight into the day to day challenges of caring for a loved one and shares practical tips on handling the physical and emotional demands. Very touching stories from those who unexpectedly found themselves in a caregiving role.