Full Circle: Experiences with an Aging Parent

Claude A. Guldner is Director of the Marriage and Family Therapy Centre
at the University of Guelph.

This is a very simple, clearly written, and poignant book. Lee-Hoffer
writes about her experiences of caring for her aging mother while at the
same time mothering her own children and being partner to her spouse.

In a brief introduction, the author addresses critical issues that
affect women who are in the “sandwich generation” (and thus faced
with caring for both children and parents), shares information on elder
care, and sets the context for the vignettes that follow. Through these
vignettes, the reader is invited into a very personal process of
intimate sharing. The author’s style is so simple, yet so moving, that
one doesn’t want to put this book down until it is finished.

Anyone who has an aging parent could benefit from reading this book. It
gives a perspective on the caretaking process that is all too often
overlooked, namely, the benefits the caregiver gains through
parent/child intimacy.