Our Journey Begins.

 Greetings friends! Some of you may know me by my work as a lecturer, actor, musical entertainer, or seen me at comic book conventions, know my involvement in medieval martial arts and recreations, or have watched my videos. But I have started a new chapter in my busy life: Eldercare for my mom.

If you know me, you know that my mother, Jayne Berrier, former fashion model and medical researcher, has advanced to the age of 89, and has the condition of Alzheimer's dementia. For the past few years I have had to take on more and more of the tasks required to make sure she is healthy and active in this "next chapter" of her life. 

Unfortunately, I was not as prepared for it as I could have been. Though she did direct me in some things, as the progression of her needs increased, the more I had to figure out for myself. For a while it was a full-time job just making sure she ate something and had basic hygiene every day.

This began to interfere with my regular job, and an unfortunate effect of the lack of sleep led to me being unemployed. At that moment I decided to help as many people as I can to not be caught unprepared like me.

 I give talks to groups, especially men's groups, on why and how to prepare. I also speak to providers of services for the elderly and their caregivers to guide them in finding and serving these customers. 

Why do I focus on men? Women are the majority of caregivers, daughters and daughters-in-law making up about 60% of caregivers for the elderly. Thus, much of the outreach and promotional efforts in that direction are targeted for that audience. But that still leaves an underserved 40%, of which I am one.

So I thought to myself, "If only I had a buddy who had gone through this tell me what it would be like, and what I could do to make it go more smoothly and less expensively, then maybe I wouldn't be going so crazy now." 

So that's what I have decided to become. I am your buddy. I am the guy who will stand in front of you, or sit down with you, and give you the straight dope on what you are going to need and how you are going to get there. I will make sure you prep like a man today, so you can live like a human tomorrow. Because if don't, who will? 

And if you are an eldercare service provider, or a financial planner, I will help you find and reach that 40% so they can be the educated consumers you want. 

In this blog I will be tracking my journey, my adventures, and my discoveries, in learning how to care for my mom. I will also be giving you tips, tricks, and checklists on things you should know and things you should need. As updates in the world of eldercare arise, I will share them here. And if you have questions, please put them in the comments or send me an email, and I will answer them withe in blog or privately. 

Thank you for reading so far, and let's begin our journey together.