All aging parents should have the "four talks" with their elder children (boomers). No child wants to be the initiator of these discussion, so we elders can take the bull by the horns and get it started.

I yearn to hear my parents tell me all about their lives. Without realizing it, I took for granted that my parents would always be around to tell me about their dreams, their desires and their lives. Mom can no longer tell me much about anything since she now has Alzheimer's.

Unfortunately, there comes a point in most seniors' lives where they cannot manage all their basic needs alone. It varies for everyone depending on their state of health, both mentally and physically. A senior's compromised mobility may make them unable to shop for and prepare meals for themselves.

Technology-assisted living is not only becoming more widespread, but is particularly appealing given that the vast majority of aging adults prefer to stay in their current home as long as they can.

While many might consider Medicare the biggest milestone impacting America's elderly population, one could argue that the championing of elder care began with Helen F. Holt (1913-2015), former secretary of state in West Virginia, who passed away earlier this month.

You don't want to start your caregiver journey in a hospital. This is sort of like taking your first tennis lesson at Wimbledon. Unfortunately, though, this is often where it starts -- you begin in a lovely state of denial about your parent's frailty.

It's normal to look at other middle-aged daughters who accompany their parents to the doctor's office and wonder how they could let themselves go. It's normal to look in the bathroom mirror and realize you have let yourself go.

If any of my midlife friends are caring for aging parents, I advise them to monitor any spending on subscriptions.f

The grainy, black-and-white photographs from 1946 fluttered to the floor, free from decades of bondage among hundreds of photos in my mother's leather albums. I picked up the images and stared at my parents and strained to imagine the young couple in love.

My mother died on November 1, so this is our first Thanksgiving without her. To make the occasion less painful, I've decided to think of funny things she used to do before dementia took her away.

My mother died in her bed on a quiet autumn morning as Tennessee Ernie Ford promised there would be peace in the valley. Outside her window, a sudden wind tossed the tree limbs, and the leaves floated to the ground.

In 1969, my father traveled to Japan on a business trip and brought back an elegant silk robe as a gift for my mother. They had been high school sweethearts. He was the gregarious student body president and she was the timid valedictorian. He wasn't one for giving gifts and she wasn't comfortable accepting them.

I love my mother. But if she passed away today I would be thankful. That doesn't make me a heartless, horrible daughter; I only want her to be free from earthly constraints and permanent disability.

Ezekiel Emanuel is a very distinguished scientist... Needless to say, his 5,000-word piece evoked a lot of debate, although everyone agreed he makes some important and startling points. They are his reasons for saying that he hopes to die at 75 and that, after he turns 65, he plans to discontinue all his health care -- no flu shots, colonoscopies, surgery, pacemakers.

They may fall, but when they do, our job is to offer them a hand up, and that hand should not be attached to conditions or control.

It's no surprise that most older adults, when given the choice, say they would prefer to stay in their own homes for as long as possible. But what if those older adults develop physical and cognitive challenges? Who helps them fulfill their preference to age in place?

CHESTNUT RIDGE, N.Y. -- At the Fellowship Community's adult home, workers are paid not according to what they do, but what they need; aging residents ...

When Grandma Mollie finally decided to get home-care, she found a caregiver in her community to assist her with certain tasks. In a few weeks, she fired the caregiver, after accusing her of misplacing and then stealing her eyeglasses. She found someone new.