The adventure begins when Meg’s mother, Addie, vacationing in Florida, takes a spill. At the hospital, Addie bolts upright on her gurney and yells “I demand an autopsy!” before passing out cold.“One minute, she is unconscious, the next, she’s nuts,” observes Meg Federico in this hilarious and poignant memoir of taking care of eighty-year-old Addie and her relatively new (and equally old) husband, … old) husband, Walter, in their not-so-golden years.
Addie’s accident is a portent of things to come over the next two years as Meg oversees her mother’s home care in the Departure Lounge, the nickname Meg gives Addie and Walter’s house in suburban New Jersey. It is a place of odd behaviors and clashing caregivers, where chaos and confusion reign supreme.
Meg had expected that Addie and Walter would settle into a Rockwellian dotage of docile dependency. Instead the pair regress into terrible teens. Meg watches from the sidelines in disbelief as her mother and stepfather, forbidden by doctors to drink, conspire to order cases of scotch by phone; as Addie’s attendant accuses the evening staff of midnight voodoo; as the increasingly demented Walter’s sex drive becomes unbridled and mail-order sex aids are delivered to the front door. Meg jumps in to cope with the pandemonium–even as she struggles to manage her own family back in Nova Scotia.
With a fresh voice and a keen eye for the absurd, Meg Federico writes a story that will resonate with the generation now caring for their parents. Welcome to the Departure Lounge is a moving and madcap chronicle of a family–their moments of joy, the memories they’d rather forget, and the just plain loopiness of their situation. “How’s life at the Departure Lounge?” Meg’s brother asks. Meg doesn’t know where to start. “Let’s just say the drinks are outrageous, and they never run out of nuts.”
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It went on too long on the same subject…..
This is a must read for children of aging parents; written in humorous way but it is a common problem, especially now that we keep people alive for very long time and no facilities for allof them!
This was one of those rare books that I couldn’t finish. It was difficult to feel bad about these people with money–going through what most of us go through but without the means to do so. Just too much whining. Maybe it got better……
Subject addressed in this story is something many of us are facing now–dealing with aging parents. Never easy this author was realistic yet witty describing situations where humor helps a person get through the challenges of helping a parent on the journey to the grave. Found myself laughing til i cried while reading this. Baby boomers will get …
Because my mother suffered from dementia but we didn’t know that was her condition…we just thought she was being needy and disruptive…this book was instrumental in helping me understand how helpless she must have felt. I recommend this book to everyone, especially for families where dementia and Alzheimers reside. It’s an honest, …
So many of us can share the author’s frustration, joy, confusion, and sorrow about a loved one with Alzheimer’s and/or undiagnosed dementia. The behaviors we think are rude or annoying or purposeful are really the result of the slow onset of these diseases. This book was written with humor, love and respect. It was wonderful.
It was funny but also sad at time because we are all going to be old some day and hopefully someone will look out for us as well as the main character looked out for her mother.
Understanding the concept before purchased, I wasn’t sure i was brave enough to read it; dealing with parent entering the “twilight years” and needing supervision to distinquish between reality of her country club days and today. (With a new horny husband who is clueless, a daughter that is deparateley trying to do the right thing by everyone …
Dealing with aging parents can be very complicated and emotionally draining, particularly when issues such as Alzheimer’s are concerned. Federico’s true experiences with her mother and step-father were written with humor, candor, poignancy, and above all, love. A book of this nature, I think, would be difficult to write, but again, Federico paid …
Unfortunately, very realistic. If you have ever cared for a senior citizen or have this event in your future, a must read. Funny stuff.
Scientology is a mysterious “church,” indeed. This memoir shares detailed information from the niece of the international director and it is just this side of unbelievable.
For anyone who has ever been a caregiver of a parent or parent-in-law in any state of dementia, you will be able to relate. This is a wry and witty book. You have to laugh or else you will cry. I raise a toast to all caregivers. My hat is off to them.
Very good book, read in 1 day, page turner.
As a woman of a certain age have had situations with my parents and knowing my children will need to deal with me in my doddering I especially liked the subject matter. But…..I did lose patience with the narrator. Just how far flung can situations go before enough is enough. At some point the realistic approach is to make decisions that …
since joining BookBub, Sheryl Woods has become one of my favorite authors. I’ve learned to watch for anything by this author & I buy her books every time. She gives you well rounded, likeable characters, & good storylines. Each book is a satisfying read. I hope you’ll get acquainted with this author & her characters. You will enjoy spending time …
Very entertaining read. Loved it.
Although acknowledged by the author, most people are not as wealthy as the seniors in the book. Tragic story about dealing with dementia, but I couldn’t relate.
a wonderful depiction of what so many will deal with in caring for aging parents; while there is the opportunity for self-pity, it never comes through as such, but more as a learning experience. Kudos!
A little depressing for me.
Sadly this story is all too familiar to me and my siblings. Care taking a parent with dementia is difficult but having a sense of humor like the author will help you get through it.