Community Corner
Michele Bertamini Author of "Life With Clara: A Caregiver's Journey"
Come to the Severna Park Library for a meet and greet with local area authors on June 4. This is the first in a series of introducing the writers who will be at the event.
“People who care for adult family members or friends fulfill an important role not only for the people they assist, but for society as a whole. While this care is unpaid, its value has been estimated at 257 billion dollars annually. Although caregivers make many contributions, being a caregiver may take a personal toll.” --report by National Alliance of Caregiving and AARP, 2004.
The number of elderly that need daily care-giving has grown by leaps and bounds as the population has aged, certainly since the 2004 study quoted
above. Unfortunately, the reality of enough affordable, decent nursing and assisted-living care has not grown with it.
This fact has put most of us in the category of either current caregiver or caregiver of the future. At least that's what the experts predict.
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Meet the Bertamini family. They didn’t consider outside help for mother-in-law, Clara, when she fell ill. Clara already lived with Michele Bertamini and her husband. Michele was her daughter-in-law. Was she duty-bound to care for her ailing mother-in-law? No, not really. Did she do it out of love? Yes. But it was so much more complicated than that.
And from this grew the idea for the book. Written as a tool to reach out to others in her same position, “Life with Clara” is the story of a journey.
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Faced with frustrations, guilt, and many anxieties as she fell into the uncharted waters of "care giving," Bertamini took notes every day along the way, unsure what purpose they would serve. As it turns out, her voice is now helping other caregivers.
Bertamini does not claim to be an expert. This Pasadena caregiver’s story is not a how-to-guide for those in elder care. There are plenty of those books already on the market. This is her “diary” of the everyday experiences, the small things, the things no one thinks about when considering a caregiver role.
Are you a caregiver? Perhaps not yet. But do come meet Michelle Bertamini at the from 10 a.m. to noon on June 4, during the book signing event sponsored by the Greater Severna Park Chamber of Commerce in partnership with the library where Bertamini is among seven local authors who will be signing and selling their books.
The book is also available on Amazon.com. Look for it in the "Elder Care" category.