Outstanding
AUTHORS
Charlotte Canion
Author, Speaker and Entrepreneur
A
strong woman who wears many hats, Charlotte Canion was born in a small town in Arkansas and grew up in Texas. She is an author, speaker, entrepreneur, mentor, wife, mother, sister and grandmother. Over the years she has purchased and sold numerous businesses including a shop in a strip mall and managed 25 women in the spokes modeling field. As an author, she has published several stories and poems, co-authored a book, “The Art of Brave Living” with 23 other authors, and has written a poignant, meaningful and informative book, “YOU HAVE TO LAUGH TO KEEP FROM CRYING / How to Parent Your Parents.” This book came about as a direct result of assisting her own parents with dementia, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, while battling her own cancer. Within the publication, she emphasizes three powerful ideas: Empower yourself with knowledge, find humor wherever you can, and discover how powerful laughter is and see how it helps. Charlotte is also a certified Texas Master Gardener. She volunteers her time to teach gardening and has won many awards. She is a member of numerous associations including: Texas Landscape Gardener’s Association, Wise County Friend of the Library, Board of Directors for the Area Business Women’s Network, Wise County Chamber of Commerce, Northwest Metroport Chamber of Commerce, and Northeast Texas Nursery Growers Association. Charlotte’s book is a cathartic means of finding light at the end of a sad and often lonely tunnel. She offers advice and encouragement, talks about finding your strength and provides tools to face the absolute challenge of parenting your parents. Charlotte shares her experiences with the world through her book and hopes that her stories help ease the pain that many people endure and get through difficult times with laughter and love. How did you get started in your field/industry? My husband was an only child and my father-in-law came to live with us. He was diagnosed with dementia. My mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. My dad was in the early stages of Parkinson’s - all at the same time. I became the accidental caregiver for three parents.
26 | P.O.W.E.R. Magazine
After all three had passed on, I wrote the book “YOU HAVE TO LAUGH TO KEEP FROM CRYING / How to Parent Your Parents.” What is some advice that has helped you juggle your career and family life successfully? LOVE – RESPECT – PATIENCE - FORGIVENESS I am married to the most wonderful man and he has kept me out of the abyss of my brain, by allowing me to laugh and cry when needed. I learned that I must take care of myself first. We took trips and had date nights when we could find someone to take over our parenting parents duties. I learned that love was a key element and you must love unconditionally. We must respect the dignity of others as well as ourselves. Patience is something that will be of great value in every aspect of our lives, including having patience with ourselves and others. In our lives we must forgive others as well as ourselves. Unforgiveness is an anchor – Forgiveness is freedom. What advice would you give to women starting out in your industry? Join an Alzheimer’s group. Support groups are all over the place now, but fifteen years ago I found very little information out there for me. That is why I wrote my book- to help those who are thrown into the deep end of the Parent Your Parent pool. I shared my journey with what I did to keep my sanity and how I dealt with the day to day problems that arose with three parents dealing with dementia, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. Whatever your problem, read, because knowledge is the key to survival and conquering an issue or problem. howtoparentyourparents.net