The Road to Losing a Parent

A Grief & Logistics Companion

By: Kendra Wright

Narrated by: Kendra Wright

Length: 1 hr and 22 mins

Publisher's summary

This book is about the long and often winding road to losing a parent.

When you’re going through a loss, it feels comforting to talk to people who have been through it and understand how difficult it is emotionally—people who understand that there is so much to learn, including things you have to learn "on the job” and many things you'll wish you'd known earlier.

Let me be that friend. I lost my dad after almost 10 months in hospice, and I went through so much. I created this book with the information that I learned the hard way.

I will shoot you straight about what it’s like, what you learn, and how to go on with your life in the midst of the grief. And I’ll help you with the logistical details—there are so many—including:

• Choosing care for your parent, including options, how to research, and questions to ask
• Dealing with dementia, including what not to say
• Ten things to make the end easier, including information on powers of attorney, writing the obituary, planning the service, getting finances in order, and more
• Finding a hospice provider, including services they provide and questions to ask
• What to expect in the final days, including pain management
• And so much more

Everyone’s grief is unique, but this book will help arm you with knowledge and prepare you for what’s to come if you’re on the road to losing a parent.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2023 Kendra Wright (P)2023 Kendra Wright

I wish I had found this earlier

I recently lost my grandmother and went through this process as one of her main caretakers. I’m the only female on that side of my family… I know they didn’t mean for it to all fall on me, but I was very close to her was the one who stepped up to do all the things.

My grandmother went from having slight confusion to suddenly being unable to care for herself in her own home. I had no idea where to start because she needed me 24 hours a day and I couldn’t be there all the time. My father, brothers and I took turns staying with her and I was exhausted because I had 2 babies and a husband who also needed me.

I wish I had found this earlier as a guidebook for where to start when an older family member begins to need more help. I would have loved real help from the beginning.
The author explains how to choose a care facility… what to look for and what questions to ask the facility director. If I’d known what questions to ask, I think I could have prevented some bad experiences in memory care facilities.

Listening to the book feels like a friend telling me straightforward advice on what she wishes she’d known when she started this time of life with her father.

The author explains how to approach choosing a care facility and gives lists and tips of how to handle each of the stages of care… Important things to check on in your loved one’s room each time you go to visit… Practical advice to make sure legal docs and finances are in order… How to wrap your mind around planning for the end… Questions to ask Hospice providers.

It’s the whole picture of how to do this.

As much as I wish I’d known all of this before the very end with my grandmother, I’ll have this to help with my own parents. I’m sad to say the timing is right because my husband’s father has dementia and just went into memory care. Yesterday he fell and broke his elbow and hip… so I find myself reading this book.

There are things I would have done differently with my grandmother’s care and I’m glad to have it spelled out for me.