■ C A R EG I V ER SP OTLIG HT
Show Time!
Caregiver Grant Helps Wife Reset and Recharge at the Met Opera
w
hen Randi’s husband suffered a stroke in 2015 and was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s
disease a year later, it was crushing for her. Randi knew nothing about caregiving and found herself suddenly thrown into the role of an unpaid family caregiver. “I wondered, ‘What am I going to do?’”
Business Administration’s SCORE, counseling small business owners. “My husband’s cognitive issues got too severe for me to leave him at home alone for more than one or two hours,” she says. “You just keep moving forward.” Randi is one of nearly 43.5 million Americans who are taking care of family members with no pay or outside help, at the same time juggling home and work life.
Eight years later,
accompanying
But during a visit to the
with her husband’s
her husband to
doctor, Randi, 77, says, “I
worsening
rehab and doctor
broke down.” She shared the
progression of the
appointments, an
exhaustion and heartbreak of
disease, another
Alzheimer’s support
watching her husband of 50
stroke, heart attack,
group and two half-
years become less and less of
significant hearing
day programs for
who he was and the physical
loss and severe
folks with memory
and emotional toll of 24/7
sleep apnea, her journey has
loss. Until last year, Randi
care. Speaking with a sense
unfolded unceasingly and
had been able to maintain
of urgency, the doctor Randi
with heartbreak. Throughout,
her own set of activities,
shares with her husband said
she says, they both have
including a 15-year stint
to her, “A few hours here or
kept an “upbeat attitude.”
following retirement as a
there aren’t enough. You need
She also has a full schedule
volunteer with the U.S. Small
to take a week off.”
18 | ROAD SCHOLAR ALUMNI MAGAZINE WINTER 2023
