Daughter Happy to Care for 101 Year-Old Mom

They sit side-by-side on a sofa in a Wauwatosa home, the daughter who is 60, the mother who is 101.

"God's grace," the daughter says. "I do believe he's sustaining her. We're learning a lot of lessons about kindness and patience."

For nearly nine years, Dorothy "Dotty" Williams has been the principal caregiver for her mom, Margaret "Margie" Hunt Dunn.

It's a story of love and faith. And it's not all that unusual - family members and friends provide the bulk of care for older adults in America.

Last week, at Wilson Park Senior Center, Williams testified during a field hearing of the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging. She spoke movingly about her mom and caregiving, about the benefits of caring for someone you love so much, but also, about the emotional toll it can take.

Many in the crowd applauded. They knew, from firsthand experience, what Williams was going through.

Dunn has dementia. Two years ago, carrying her plate from the patio to the kitchen, she fell and broke her hip. Emergency surgery saved her life. She celebrated her 99th birthday in a hospital bed.

What's often lost in this society-wide tale of age and mortality is this: Caregivers need help, too; moments to shop, to take in a movie, to go for medical appointments, even to go out on a date with a spouse.

The National Family Caregiver Support Program has provided Williams with help, a small amount of money for what's known as respite care, to bring in someone else to watch a loved one for a few hours. In Milwaukee County, the program is administered through the Family Caregiver Support Network at Interfaith Older Adult Programs Inc.

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Daughter Happy to Care for Mom, 101, Despite Challenges for Both