I spent the first years of my life on the brownstone-lined streets of Brooklyn, waking up to the sounds of birds chirping mixed with car horns reverberating throughout the city. Little did I know that my childhood would take an unexpected turn. In the middle of first grade, my mom pulled me out of school,
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Carla Bacon, 69, who is caring for her 70-year-old husband while working a full-time job in Oklahoma. Bacon’s husband has slowly been recovering from a stroke, and they’ve had to go into medical debt to make ends meet. This interview has been edited for length and
I really didn’t know what caring for an aging parent would be like. After my father died, my mother continued living alone in New York City. She was in her mid-80s and fiercely independent. She managed all her finances, doctor appointments, and dinner dates with her new boyfriend. She loved her apartment, her lifestyle, her
