‘It Is So Incredibly Sad’: Ad Campaign Portrays Frustration of Caring for Elderly Parents
- Posted on August 15, 2012 at 9:00pm by
Liz Klimas
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Screen shot from video, provided by AARP and the Ad Council, is from a new public service announcement illustrating the frustration that family members can feel as they struggle to care for aging loved ones. (Photo: AP/AARP/Ad Council)
WASHINGTON (TheBlaze/AP) — A woman grips her car’s steering wheel and silently lets out a scream as her frail father, on oxygen, coughs beside her and her kids play around in the back seat.
This how taking care of an elderly parent is portrayed in a new public service announcement. It is a frustration recognizable to millions of Americans who struggle to care for aging loved ones while holding down jobs, raising children and taking care of their own health.
“I take care of her, but who takes care of me?” says another one of the public service announcements from the nonprofit Ad Council, which is distributing the ads for TV, radio, print and online use. It’s part of a major campaign from AARP and the Ad Council beginning Thursday to raise awareness of the impact of family caregiving as the nation rapidly grays – and to point overwhelmed families toward resources that may ease the strain.
The campaign, beginning Thursday, is to raise awareness of family caregivers and point them toward resources that may ease the strain. (AP Photo/AARP, Ad Council)
“Most caregivers don’t know where to turn for help,” said AARP vice president Debra Whitman, whose own family has experienced caregiving twice, for her grandmother and her mother-in-law.
Even knowing what to ask can be a hurdle. That’s what Andrea Phillips of Alexandria, Va., discovered when her mother, now 74, visited from Chicago a few years ago and got too sick to go home. She recovered from a heart problem only to be diagnosed with early Alzheimer’s.
Phillips, a lawyer with 1- and 4-year-old daughters, raced to find nearby senior housing that her mother would accept and could afford. But already she‘s having to cobble together additional care as the Alzheimer’s worsens. She says her mother skips her prepaid meals in favor of a cookie stash, misses medication despite Phillips’ daily take-your-pills phone calls and is embarrassed to find herself struggling to remember and perform personal hygiene – the kind of day-to-day issues that health providers didn’t address.
“I do constantly feel that I’m playing catch-up,” said Phillips, adding that she feels guilty when she gets frustrated. “I’m trying to find the right resources so Mom and I can continue to have a good relationship.”
Although they often don’t identify themselves as “caregivers,” more than 42 million Americans perform some form of consistent care for older or impaired adult relatives or friends, according to a 2009 estimate. It can range from paying bills, to driving Mom to doctor appointments, to more hands-on care such as bathing, and even tasks once left to nurses such as the care of open wounds.
“At first you’re just helping out Mom. Then it can become more than a fulltime job,” said AARP’s Whitman.
She described the average U.S. caregiver as a 49-year-old woman who on top of her regular job provides nearly 20 hours a week of unpaid care to her mother for nearly five years.
An AARP report found family members provide a staggering $450 billion worth of unpaid care annually – and other research makes clear that the stress and the time involved can take a toll on the caregivers’ own health and finances as they put off their own doctor visits, dip into their savings and cut back their working hours.
Adding to the challenge is that more and more people are living well into their 90s, as Census figures show the oldest-old are the fastest growing segment of the population.
Consider Oona Schmid’s father, who is 96 and has advanced dementia. The Arlington, Va., woman has overseen his care for a decade, since her mother died – and said she could have better planned how to pay for it if only someone had warned her how long people can live with dementia. She said the bill at her father’s assisted-living facility has reached nearly $8,000 a month as he now needs round-the-clock care.
“I don’t think he knows who I am, but he still smiles when he sees me,” Schmid said. She choked up as she described the pull she feels between her responsibilities to her father and to her 3-year-old son, fretting that there‘s no money left to set aside for her son’s education.
Schmid, 41, works fulltime, pet-sits for extra cash and is exploring options to save on her father’s care.
“Maybe this is a terrible thing to say but I‘m terrified of how long he’s going to live and how much it’s going to cost,” she said.
Like Schmid’s father, very few Americans have purchased private, and pricey, long-term care insurance, and Medicare doesn’t pay for that kind of care. That’s why family members wind up performing so much of it for so long. The Obama administration last fall ended efforts to establish a government-sponsored program to make long-term care insurance more affordable, finding it financially unsustainable.
A key message of the new campaign is for caregivers not to neglect their own needs.
The ads direct people to AARP’s website to find information and services from that organization and others, what Whitman describes as a one-stop starting point for resources.
The site offers Web chats with caregiving experts, online support groups, legal documents and links to such programs as locators for care providers or respite services. A new “Prepare to Care” brochure offers to-do checklists for families new to caregiving, and people not as web-savvy can call a hotline at 877-333-5885.
Too many caregivers don’t know such services exist, or even that they can ask their loved ones‘ doctors to refer them for help until there’s a crisis, said Dr. Eileen Callahan, a geriatrician at New York‘s Mount Sinai Medical Center who isn’t involved with the AARP campaign.
The AARP project is broader than another new effort targeting caregivers – a government website that, as part of the National Alzheimer’s Plan, offers families information specific to dementia care at www.alzheimers.gov.
Mount Sinai’s Callahan said national efforts to educate all caregivers, regardless of the health problem, are long overdue.
“They should not feel so isolated,” she said. “It is so incredibly sad.”
AARP’s own employees, Amy Goyer, will appear on NBC’s Nightly News Wednesday night to highlight the issue of family caregiving. She writes in a blog post “We hope that sharing our story with the media will make millions of people who are caregiving, as well as those who can help support them, realize that they are not alone.”
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Comments (218)
Spyderco
Posted on August 15, 2012 at 9:46pmI just got home from helping put my grandfather to bed for the night. He is suffering from diabetes and a stroke. He is in his 80s and can do nothing for himself. I do this when I can because of all the times I was allowed to eat his food, all the love he has shown for his family, and all the times he sacrificed so we had what we wanted. I don’t cut his grass and help with his medication because I want a second income. I do this out of love and respect for him. He owes me nothing. I still owe him.
Report Post »It sickens me to find this article first thing when I returned home. How dare some one worry about giving care for 20 hrs a week without pay? They want us to feel burdened. They want us to stop looking at family as people and more of a task, just something else that I have to do. This is only one of the steps they will take to push us to agree that the elderly are useless and need to be put down. I will never stop loving grandpa or will I stop helping him to live everyday until the Lord calls him home, not when some hack doctor tells me its time according to the law.
louise
Posted on August 15, 2012 at 9:50pmI love your post. God Bless you
Report Post »RANGER1965
Posted on August 15, 2012 at 10:12pmWell said sir.
Report Post »McNamara
Posted on August 15, 2012 at 10:15pmGod Bless you. we have taken care of family members and have no ill will towards it. It is family. Bottom line. Disgusting ad.
Report Post »momrules
Posted on August 15, 2012 at 10:20pmSPYDERCO………..Well said and well done.
Report Post »Wolfgang the Gray
Posted on August 15, 2012 at 10:41pmAgree with you 100%.
Report Post »Merry52277
Posted on August 15, 2012 at 11:05pmThat was well said. I am tired of the youth of this nation disrespecting the elderly of this nation. I will pray for you and your family.
Report Post »americansfightingforcommonsense
Posted on August 15, 2012 at 11:07pmThank You for your words. Our family is the most important thing in our lives, besides Jesus Christ. My Grandfather will be 99 this year still living on the farm by himself. He loves to tell stories of the past and I love to hear them. We need to take care of our elderly, it is not the job of the government and I wouldn’t recommend AARP if my life depended on it.
Report Post »Lordcsmith
Posted on August 15, 2012 at 11:11pmHate to say it but Ron Paul said what we all know to be true, that advocating terminating children because they are burdensome will eventually lead to Euthanasia for the elderly.
Report Post »snufy
Posted on August 15, 2012 at 11:26pmI agree. Parents wiped our butts when we couldn’t take care of ourselves, so where’s the problem of taking care of them when they need it? I just wish I had living parents to take care of. AARP stands to make billions of dollars from Obamacare. What are they leading up to…justifying death panels in Obamacare that are already established? Sounds like it.
Report Post »woodyb
Posted on August 15, 2012 at 11:37pm“I take care of her, but who takes care of me?”
Report Post »~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Did her mother ask that question when she was growing up? Or has she ever grown up????????????
2012hey
Posted on August 16, 2012 at 12:19amNot a surprise this disgusting filth of an ad from the Ad Council – they want to start young people thinking that their aging family are burdens so when Obamacare kicks in it will be that much easier to withhold care from them as well. Obama and his lefties will get many of the younger generation to buy into this “burden” concept. I took care of both of my parents when they needed it. I even moved back closer to home to do so. It was 10 years of my life. They gave me at least 20 years of their lives to raise me so it’s about time we got back to taking care of our own and not farming them out to old age homes. The saddest place on the planet is an old age home – heaven’s waiting room… Meanwhile the families that left them there are busy with their lives… very sad…
Report Post »Crazyotto
Posted on August 16, 2012 at 12:21amI took care of my mother when she suffered from dementia. She was living in a independent living center but needed a lot of extra help. I traveled on business but cooked her meals whenever I was in town during the week.. and always spent a good part of the weekend with her .. Sometimes it was hard but I couldn’t afford to have someone from the outside do it. I had no siblings to help. In the end I was lucky to have been able to give back to her. She died a couple of years ago but I had moved her to our town-home when the disease really took over and I was there when she passed. I would never trade that for anything.
Report Post »BloodSweatandTears
Posted on August 16, 2012 at 12:26amI agree whole heartedly. It was only a matter of time before this sick administration and it’s cronies AARP put out this abomination. What number on the Commie to-do list is this? I loved my parents and when I got the call my mom needed help, I was on the next plane there. Nothing was a burden. I did it out of love. If she wanted jello in the middle of the night she got it. No bulking, no questions asked. Happily, I cooked, I cleaned, I ran all her errands, took her to the doctor’s. I slept on the floor in her room as she became sicker. I wish I had had the opportunity to have done more. I miss them everyday, but know one day, I will see them again. They are/were my parents and I’d do it all over again. And no, as some would suggest -were they in ANY WAY a burden. When it’s your turn, your children should do the same for you. But not when this garbage is being planted in the mind. Pure evil. First babies, now the elderly…
Report Post »Stiggs
Posted on August 16, 2012 at 12:43amSPYDERCO – you nailed it, the simple yet driving force of love and respect for those who give us life. Your parents raised you well. I’d like to think that we all just got a little blessing through your story.
Report Post »RossPoldark
Posted on August 16, 2012 at 12:47ammy sister and I took care of our parents for 14 years and we did out of love and not obligation or as a cross to bear. It was not easy but the joys far outweigned the negatives. My goodness, 20 hours a week is nothing. Funny how one mother can take care of 6 kids, but 6 kids cannot take care of 1 mother. Our parents have since passed, but we had it to over again, we would it again in a heart beat.
Report Post »hifi74
Posted on August 16, 2012 at 1:04amMe, my sister, and my parents are dealing with this very same thing right now with my dads parents. It make sit that much harder with the two of them 1000 miles away right now but even then we are still making trips there to help them out whenever we can. Unfortunately my 93 yr old grandfather has just gone into hospice so here soon it will probably only be my 90 year old grandmother. at which time she’ll get moved up here into the long term care facility my sister works at. Strange though how something fairly recent in my families lives has been so poignantly pointed out in this article, I don’t understand though these family members seeming disdain for caring for their supposed “loved ones”.
Report Post »Wango
Posted on August 16, 2012 at 1:14amI call BS Spyderco. Not on your attitude toward your caregiving, that’s fine and noble. But your attitude toward this message is way off base.
There was nothing uncaring or selfish about any of the people or stories. These were people doing just what you’re doing. In one case with a 1- and 4-year old at home. And they spoke of the uncertainties of having an ill parent, about the emotional and financial impact on other family members, that it can be frustrating and that they feel guilty about that, that they wish they had known more and planned better. And that sometimes we all need a little help to make it through the day. And it would be nice if long-term care were more affordable. (I just bought it. I know.) There wasn’t a hint of anyone feeling put out. The twenty hours was just a point of reference, not some threshold where the loving or the caregiving stopped.
Speaking as someone who helped care for my mother with dementia and a stroke, honestly, I think there is more than a touch of martyrdom in your post and the responses to it. And I believe they are motivated not by genuine disappointment or offense but by a desire to demonize the AARP as some sort of misinformed political stance.
I think it’s shallow and shameful. Not a Stoic in the bunch.
Report Post »MCDAVE
Posted on August 16, 2012 at 1:32amMy father passed this past april after a long battle with cancer. He died at home and our family took turns looking after him.last few month’s was 24/7 care..he died surrounded by his family,he died without complaining…I hope when its my turn I can face death with as much dignity as he did…..RIP Pop
Report Post »LogCabinRepublican
Posted on August 16, 2012 at 5:15amI couldn’t even read this entire article it made me SICK! I would DO ANYTHING I could to help my parents if they needed it. And I wouldn’t complain about it I would just DO IT. AARP can SHOVE IT! This is part of the Cancer our country is under right now and has been for the past 30+ years. Progressivism NEEDS to be STOPED! and I hope we can turn things around. What does AARP want us to do, just gather up our parents and put them in a gas chamber? I mean seriously, they know that this new healthcare plan is unsustainable and the only way for it to work is to kill of the people that fought for the rights that we have left. Thanks a lot Barry, you truly are the DEVIL along with your administration. God will come around one day and you’ll surely be sorry you ever messed with us. The Devil comes in many forms and I feel that he (Obama) is one of them. Is anyone with me on this one?
Report Post »Prepare for the 2nd Coming
Posted on August 16, 2012 at 6:32amThank you, I was feeling rather deflated looking at headlines this morning, then I read your posting. I have a renewed sense of hope in humanity after reading it.
Report Post »loriann12
Posted on August 16, 2012 at 6:41amYou hit the nail on the head. The next ad will say, why don’t you just help your elderly parent/grandparent end it all so you don’t have to care for them anymore? It really sickens me that this comes from AARP, who are supposed to be advocating for elders. My mom took care of her father in law (my grandpa) for several years until she had to put him in a nursing home.
Report Post »RIGS
Posted on August 16, 2012 at 7:43amThank god there are people like you who love and praise their parents and grandparents,
Report Post »CABERNETQHS
Posted on August 16, 2012 at 7:47amBeautifully put. Family takes care of family. AARP is very offensive with their support for Obamacare. I will not join them. Our society doesn’t appreciate our elders as in the past (or our young for that matter). Those of us paying attention, can see the death panels in our future. You are not useful as a fetus or a senior…only a tax paying worker.
Report Post »BloodSweatandTears
Posted on August 16, 2012 at 9:39amYou‘re right it’s de-humaninzing…and like you-know-who said -about babies being a punishment, now they are wanting us to believe our mothers and fathers are a punishment too? What kind of people think, say and do this god-less philosophy? I can’t say I have ever been more deeply offended.
It still hurts to think what happened to Terri Schrivo.
Report Post »4xeverything
Posted on August 16, 2012 at 10:09amWell said SPYDERCO.
Report Post »I’ve watched as my grandmother has been refered to as a burden by her 4 children and their spouses for the past year. It makes me sick. She gave birth to them, cared for them alone since my grandfather died in 1959 and, raised them to become an engineer, a lawyer, an architect, and an accountant. I will never give up on my parents. They deserve my loyalty. I will also EXPECT for my children to take care of my husband and myself when our time comes. It’s what family is all about.
Le Sellers
Posted on August 16, 2012 at 10:57amYour story is not “normal”.
Ever since FDR trotted out his anitsocial inSecurity program in the 30s, the government (and others) has been working hard to untie the cords that bind one generation to another. (It actually started80 years earlier with government-run, tax-funded welfare schools, which were designed to divorce children from their parents — see Horace Mann’s biography by his adoring wife.)
By doing so, the government creates weak families, and that is exactly what the state wants and needs. You see, strong families do not need (or want) much government; weak ones do.
Since government exists to transfer power from the individual and his family to the state, it is only natural that we see this insidious cancer working its way into the heart of USmerican families.
AARP is as left-wing as O’bama. They are aggressively promoting this dissolution.
Mr. O’bama, where are the Jobs?
Report Post »The Giver
Posted on August 16, 2012 at 11:09amI can’t believe how they present the honor of caring for your loved ones as a burden. It is presented as taking care of someone for free. How callous to forget how much is owed to them in the first place. Even if it is an in law, they gave you your spouse. We are our brother’s keeper. No one said doing the right thing would be easy. Alzheimers is very hard to deal with because the person can accuse you of theft and will try to escape to get to work ( they no longer have) or just to run away. It can become a 24 hr/day proposition. Very difficult for just one person. If you know someone caring for someone with alzheimers help them out as much as you can. There are daycare centers ( don’t know how reliable) but it can help the caregiver time to recharge a little. There are also special floors in some nursing homes for Alzheimers that have exit doors with alarms. Get as much help as you can to help you care for your loved one. You have to stay healthy and strong in order to take care of someone else. God Bless You.
Report Post »chrisden
Posted on August 16, 2012 at 11:30amI hate this add. My Dad had Parkinson’s for many years and in the end my Mother and our family took care of his every need. We had paid for nursing home care insurance, but never used it. Mom said that it was the least we could do for the man who had given his entire life to his family. I believe my Dad lived two years longer because of the care he was given at home. I thank God for the additional time with him. Never once was it a burden.
When I was 6 years old I saw a movie of an Eskimo tribe that placed an elderly woman on an ice flow and pushed her out to sea. Even at 6 I knew that was wrong. I was raised to cherish the elderly and respect and safeguard them. I hope we never loose that.
Report Post »muffythetuffy
Posted on August 16, 2012 at 12:37pmNATIONAL SOCIALISM OF GERMANY HAD THE SOLUTION
The National Socialists hospitalized the elderly, mentally retarded adults, mentally retarded children, and other sick people who were costing the German health care system too much and not productive. In 1930s Germany, crematoriums were located as part of orphanages. The German Government would send letters to parents telling them that their child died of diptheria. Obama and Democrats plan to use the same solution.
Report Post »KissMyAmericanFlag
Posted on August 16, 2012 at 1:32pmDitto that Spyder; the ad’s sponsors stand to gain sub$tantially from altering the mindset of parental/ family caring to a selfish/ liberalist ‘burden’ to be best shouldered by govt. G-d forbid its implementation or a similar ‘replacement’ other than free market demand and supply.
Report Post »Spyderco
Posted on August 16, 2012 at 1:43pmWango- After reading some of your other post it is clear to me that try to find BS in everything. You cant find it in yourself to have faith in a person to do the right thing because its the right thing to do. How sad.
Report Post »Everyone else- Thank you for your prayers and your commitment to your families and God. I am thankful to God to see there are still people who have their moral compass pointed in the right direction. I will also be praying for all of you and your families, even Wango. God bless you all.
lefty5005
Posted on August 16, 2012 at 4:10pmWango..
Report Post »I hope you sit in feces and urine while drooling all over yourself hoping someone will feed you the food some orderly just put beside your bed, knowing you can’t feed yourself. Judging from your posts, you will vote for Obama therefore Obamacare where the home will realized this guy is too much of a burden so let’s up his pain meds a bit. The narcotics have constipated you and your abdomen hurts terribly. No family is visiting you at all because when you were younger they said…the guys an SOB, he is pro-abortion/euthanasia, doesn‘t give a rat’s hiney about anything or anyone, despised religion and God, why should I give him the time of day. You have a large bedsore at the base of your back with c-difficile or MRSA raging throughout your body. You want to die and hope the euthanasia Obama supports will kick in soon. You scream but you can’t, no one cares. You lie there thinking of your past and wonder if you deserve this. You fall into a stupor and fortunately you pass away. You see a light, then darkness while Satan welcomes you to hell. Why me you say, well read your posts now and maybe you can save yourself.
Wango
Posted on August 16, 2012 at 6:53pmLEFTY . . .Wo–ho-ho-whew! Yeehaw! That’s some awfully dark stuff. And quite personal, apparently. Tell me, is it your experience or your nightmare? Vewy Scawey. But I can help. Here’s how:
First, I have to reject your application for the caregiver position. You’re just a tad too unstable.
Second, I challenge you to quote any one of my posts on this thread and tell me where I’m wrong or disruptive or disrespectful. Go ahead, Edgar Allen Slo, take your time.
Report Post »Sara123
Posted on August 16, 2012 at 7:28pmThe quality of people that social services hire to take the place of family… Stay involved. Don’t take the bait to resent and abandon. You’ll be sorry.
Report Post »routnom23
Posted on August 16, 2012 at 7:52pmThank you for sharing your thoughts. It is encouraging to see how many responded positively to it. My cousin put her mother in a home when she was 82 and became “Too much” to take care of. My aunt lived in a small apartment built onto my cousin’s home when my uncle retired many years ago. There was nothing wrong with my aunt except she had bad knees and had trouble walking. My aunt just passed last August at the age of 93. In the last 5 years of her life, she saw her grand nieces and nephews more than her own daughter. The last time I saw her just a few weeks before she died, she treated us to some of the most detailed strories about her and our mother when they were growing up in the 1920‘s and 30’s. RIP Aunt Melba.
Report Post »burtontd76
Posted on August 16, 2012 at 7:52pmi wish my grandparents were still here.
Report Post »Godshand
Posted on August 16, 2012 at 10:51pmSpyderco, don’t even comment till you have had to be a caregiver for 3 parents 24/7. Care givers can go nuts fast.
Report Post »mixplix
Posted on August 17, 2012 at 5:18amWhen I was young there were no nursing homes to speak of because the grand parents were still home with the family and part of the family and usually bringing some wisdom to consider in the squabbles at the supper table. A nursing home was my parents greatest fear and their fear never came.
Report Post »The Jewish Avenger
Posted on August 17, 2012 at 1:27pmFinally, someone with a backbone and morals…
Thank you, I want to slap an AARP agent ASAP.
Report Post »crazedbanshee
Posted on August 17, 2012 at 3:51pmI agree that taking care of family and neighbors is our responsibility and i don’t like AARP, but for you to all parade it around like it is never a burden is a bunch of BS. For you to act like you always enjoy the labors given to you is a big fat lie. Even if your heart is in the right place it does not mean you enjoy the task given to you.
With that said I respect anyone going through extra effort, despite the extra burden, to take care of their family. It shows true character.
“Father, if thou be willing, REMOVE this cup from me: NEVERTHELESS not my will, but thine, be done.”
Report Post »PATTY HENRY
Posted on August 17, 2012 at 4:05pmGood for you. AARP is a very far left LIBERAL organization and this is one of the FIRST SHOTS across the bow for the Euthanasia Campaign that Obama will strike up if he is re-elected. He’s left all the bread crumbs out and his trail leads right to that – killing off the old folks.
Report Post »Christians believe that every thing put in front of us is for a reason. Either to teach us, or mold us or enlighten someone near us, but No task is too hard with GOD. I agree that without God it’s impossible.
Starknerd
Posted on August 15, 2012 at 9:43pmIs feeding someone only cute when they’re an infant? Is feeding someone only great when they are obtaining logic and not slipping from it? Is feeding someone not only a privilege but a real responsibility of NORMAL life!? Is looking after the sick a heartache or a heart-warmer? Is the price of raising, changing sheets, feeding, sport, music, camp, college, engage in entertainment, on and on, not deserving of something more than the AARP preaching an ultimate agenda of fund raising!? Good grief! Has millenia of being human not taught people how to be just that?
Report Post »Melika
Posted on August 16, 2012 at 4:25amYou’re making the mistake of thinking these kinds of people LIKED feeding their children. You can bet that when they weren’t parading the little darlings around for the “Oooohhh how cute” fest, there was nothing but frustration, disgust, and complaints witht all the feedings, poopie, and vomit.
Report Post »ericsez
Posted on August 15, 2012 at 9:42pmunless i’m very wrong, the point of this advertisement is to introduce euthanasia as a solution to a growing problem. this is becoming especially poignant with 10,000 baby boomers reaching 65 every day. essentially, ELIMINATE the problem…it’s good for you, the person and society. the AARP cares?
Report Post »scout n ambush
Posted on August 15, 2012 at 9:47pmB.O’s plan to fix social security and medicare .
Report Post »FREEDOMoverFEAR
Posted on August 15, 2012 at 10:04pmWhat‘s wrong with euthanasia my Grandfather wanted to be shot because he was so anemic that he couldn’t get enough oxygen in his blood and felt like he was constantly suffocating. I couldn’t shoot him so the doctor just doped him up for the last couple of weeks. I wish he could have gone sooner the way he chose. Choosing as in freedom. America land of the free are you seeing a pattern here?
Report Post »CatB
Posted on August 15, 2012 at 10:44pmAARP are NOT a friend to seniors .. they PUSHED Obamacare and then got a waiver for themselves!
Report Post »2012hey
Posted on August 16, 2012 at 12:22amYep you are right on the money. Screw you AARP – you’re never getting a dime from me.
Report Post »The-Monk
Posted on August 15, 2012 at 9:39pmAARP has been around longer than most know….
http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=youtube+monty+python+bring+out+your+dead&mid=B8E8154661FD7AF4A994B8E8154661FD7AF4A994&view=detail&FORM=VIRE1
Report Post »kickagrandma
Posted on August 15, 2012 at 9:38pmaarp / URP????
puleezee, if aarp has anything to do with anything, you can write it up as GOVERNMENT SPONSORED ********!”
aarp = planned parenthood=abortion=death panels=unnecessary people=zero birth control=godless society=obama and all the goons who work for and with him, period. they all are satan stalking us, our CHRISTIAN AND JEWISH faiths, our morals and mores.
Anything labeled “aarp” needs to be disposed of without opening IMMEDIATELY, if not sooner.
Report Post »1forthegoodguy
Posted on August 15, 2012 at 10:02pmSo says “Kickagrandma”
Report Post »momrules
Posted on August 15, 2012 at 10:22pmAnd Kickagrandma is correct. Again.
Report Post »CatB
Posted on August 15, 2012 at 10:46pm@MOM and GRANDMA … YES GRANDMA IS RIGHT! AARP pushed HARD for Obamacare and then got THEMSELVES A WAIVER!
Report Post »sWampy
Posted on August 15, 2012 at 9:38pmEveryday is opposites day in the liberal mind.
Report Post »moonlight on the bay
Posted on August 16, 2012 at 1:18amYep, things are upside down in liberal land. That’s why the current administration has no problem with the vice-president’s pandering / talking down to the crowd in Danville, North Carolina — OOPS, Virginia.
Report Post »Twinspeedr
Posted on August 15, 2012 at 9:34pmThis is why families lived together in the past. Everyone chipped in and helps with the elder members of the family. “Honor your Father and your Mother, that it may go well with you” remember that one? Yep it is one of the big 10, right alongside no adultery and no murder? The days of dropping them in a nursing home and visiting once a year on their Birthday are coming to an end, and rightly so. Better decide how you and your family are going to deal with the living arrangements for the elderly in your family. Socialized medicine will not be as kind as anyone in your family can be, and you WILL answer for it one day.
Report Post »Caniac Steve
Posted on August 15, 2012 at 9:43pmjust under 100 years ao. dumped dropped off like .there were very few “rest homes” or old folks homes due to the fact that yes failies lived,worked together making up 2-3 generations under one roof..but after WW2 things/attitudes changed..and since then like urban/governemt creep..have in some communities nursing home where parents/grand prents who do rember get dumped or dropped of the face of the earth because their kids/grnd kids don’t have the time nor take the time as they did for thier kids/grandkids.what a sad commentary we show the world.
Report Post »adeleeeee
Posted on August 15, 2012 at 9:46pmTotally agree! I cannot understand why people put their parents in a nursing home. Your parents is your responsibity! Because your parents take care of you since you were born so in return you take care of them when they getting older!
I don’t need a government to take care of them. I can and I will!
Report Post »DEMOCRATS.ARE.EVIL
Posted on August 15, 2012 at 9:47pmIt’s our responsibility. People have forgotten that. We took my mother-in-law in for her last two years. I’m glad we did it.
Report Post »JQCitizen
Posted on August 15, 2012 at 11:09pmI just met a gentleman from my church in the store, and we spoke about this very thing! We are being challenged away from our solitary, independent mode of life, here in America, and coming to a renewed recognition of our interdependence one generation with another.
I personally care for my grandchildren who have moved into our home, and assist with my father‘s care at a sister’s house. We all recognise that we may have to join households at some point to care for one another. That used to be the norm.
I think it really was a cultural hicc-up that we moved away from that; and actually see the current stresses as a mixed blessing in disguise, bringing us back to the reality of family community.
Report Post »damnedifwedont
Posted on August 16, 2012 at 5:59amYes,it’s the first Commandment with a PROMISE..’Honor thy father and thy mother that thy days may be long upon the earth.’ I am grateful that my beautiful and kind daughter has a loving heart and loves her old,crippled Mom.
Report Post »srocker12
Posted on August 15, 2012 at 9:30pmThis is sick. Make no mistake about it…..this is a nudge.
Report Post »ZaphodsPlanet
Posted on August 15, 2012 at 10:51pmIt’s a nudge with a shotgun pointed at the heads of the elderly. AARP is so beyond vile I can’t find the words to give what I truly feel justice. I’m sure this is the case with most of the non-trolls posting here tonight. I just seem to keep recalling something Glenn said, “They are enemies of his, not ours”, the reference being to God. I wouldn’t be surprised to someday see AARP suicide booths conveniently located outside most grocery stores. Like that episode in Futurama… you can choose “Quick and Painless” …. or “Slow and painful”…. only difference being there’s a sign on the front of the booth saying “this Suicide Booth was brought to you out of the kindness and generosity of the caring people at AARP and the Ad Council”. Just vile…. like BO.
Report Post »scout n ambush
Posted on August 15, 2012 at 9:27pmYou can tell it’s fake or the elderly man would be slappin her cross the pie hole .No it is not easy but i’d have it no other way no nursing home I can handle most of it myself for now glad i got two sisters just in case .
Report Post »scout n ambush
Posted on August 15, 2012 at 9:37pmIf you have lost a parent already you know how precious the other is but there are just some things a guy can’t do .
Report Post »dormpranks
Posted on August 15, 2012 at 9:27pmHow selfish have we become? I mean seriously, everything is motivated by “me. me. me.” Unreal. What if our parents had that mentality when they were raising us? My parents worked their tails off for me and my sisters, things were definitely “inconvenient” at times for them. I never heard them complain. As my parents are aging, if that time comes I know we will gladly return the favor my parents as they did for us growing up.
Report Post »Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra
Posted on August 15, 2012 at 9:40pmIt is a generational thing:
Baby Boomers 1947-1964- a generation of self enjoyment, buy now pay later, make life fair and equal
Gen X 1965 – 1981 – Self Reliant, want respect, and save money, no debt. Pragmatic.
Who are they targeting and who is the majority in the AARP? Baby Boomers.
Baby Boomers, what is mine is mine, what is yours is mine, what is my grandkids is mine, everything is mine. But we should all be equal, but I get mine first.
Report Post »tarpon
Posted on August 15, 2012 at 9:26pmEnd all the frustration, dump Obama.
Report Post »oneshiner
Posted on August 15, 2012 at 9:40pmThat’s the best choice. What ever happened to American taking care of their aged parents?
If this ad comes out I’ll be so worried my 90+ mom will see it and think she’s a burden. In most other countries the people take care of their aged family member rather than putting them in a home and forgetting them, except their once a year visit. That’s BULL. This is sick………
Report Post »kindling
Posted on August 15, 2012 at 9:25pmtry adopting handicapped children as a single adult, 24/7 care of several kids, that get harder as they get older. I Thank God I believe in blessings because I get them every day and I know where they come from…:-)
Report Post »FREEDOMoverFEAR
Posted on August 15, 2012 at 10:06pmProps to you more people should have your heart.
Report Post »cemerius
Posted on August 15, 2012 at 9:24pmWhen will we see an ad that says “AARP profits 3 billion dollars while they support the removal of 700 Billion from Medicare”?
Report Post »biffo
Posted on August 15, 2012 at 9:23pmMy family came together and helped our parents, grandparents, to enjoy their last years and leave this world in peace. That is how we were raised, good Catholic people. Today’s selfish soccer mom’s, beating their husbands, destroying their children’s chance at a good life, could care less about their parents!! They want you to pay for their care and housing. Thank God this will only happen in the Godless East and West coasts. We still have our silent majority, good Christian people, who love their family, respect the sanctity of life and will stand up when called. The obama plantation kills us before we are born, protects our murderers before us, chases God out of our lives at every turn. Who would vote for these devils? Who?
Report Post »AgentRose
Posted on August 15, 2012 at 9:23pmTHIS IS ONE OF THE MOST DISGUSTING ADS/PROPAGANDA PIECES I HAVE EVER SEEN!!!! I took care of my mother for five years and they were the happiest years of my life! If someone does not understand that life is about giving pray for that gift. I will do an ad for anyone anytime to prove this utterly false.
Report Post »And yes, they are trying to desensitize us to euthanasia. Don’t you think the AARP will run euthanasia clinics or “end-of-life” centers to save money for Obamacare!
In Holland they have mobile euthanasia units to make house calls!!
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/mar/01/dutch-mobile-euthanasia-units
Psychosis
Posted on August 15, 2012 at 9:23pmits all about me me me
welcome to todays progressive liberal
Report Post »sailorV
Posted on August 16, 2012 at 12:51amThat‘s the crux of it isn’t it? To see no value in a life other than your own must certainly lead to an empty, purposeless existence.
Report Post »BatesclanMary
Posted on August 15, 2012 at 9:21pm130,000 a year in Great Britain put to sleep like puppies because there are no beds I think that is our future
Report Post »FEMALL
Posted on August 15, 2012 at 9:20pmHow long? How much money? Too bad he didn’t ask those questions when you were a twinkle in his eye.The world would be a better place.
Report Post »MidWestWingedOne
Posted on August 15, 2012 at 9:44pmFemall? Who are you addressing?
Report Post »MidWestWingedOne
Posted on August 15, 2012 at 9:20pmI looked after Mom & Dad for 10 years while raising my kids and working. It amazed me that Mom made a little in real estate, qualified for Medicaid and was able to get all her services – from transportation, glasses, diabetic shoes and all her medications including dental. Dad worked for Woolworth for 30 years and lived on SS plus a small pension. That pension put him over the limit for Medicaid but only barely. He qualified for nothing – including the VA but didn’t have enough to pay his medicines or medical needs. Both had insurance and medicare supplements their entire lives but exceeded lifetime maximums. Co-pays at the VA were $24 while WalMart co-pays were $4…the lesson here is that if you work your whole life, someone who has less and didn’t work will always get all that they need. Dad scrimped and saved, went without and eventually sold his possessions to pay for false teeth. Mom got it all covered. They were married but allowed to file separately for benefits. We helped as much as we could. How lopsided is this?
Report Post »GeorgieJo
Posted on August 15, 2012 at 9:17pmAARP took stimulus money.
Report Post »YOUR TAX DOLLARS pay for these ads.
OMG 2012
TRONINTHEMORNING
Posted on August 15, 2012 at 9:16pmAARP….A truly useless, liberal organization. Avoid it.
Report Post »oneshiner
Posted on August 16, 2012 at 7:50pmThe only thing I really agreed with John McCain, he said cut your AARP card and send it back to them. Did that long ago when I got sick & tired of getting their monthly magazine promoting those shameless Hollyweird types. I told them to stop sending magazines or stop glorifying those type people in every magazine. Not gonna pay for that kind of krap. They’re too liberal thinking for my taste. (hahaha, guess I showed them, ha)
Report Post »cookcountypatriot
Posted on August 15, 2012 at 9:15pmthat ad should be a litmus test for young men who are seeking potential mates…if the like it…dump that progressive hag
Report Post »louise
Posted on August 15, 2012 at 9:14pmWhere do I start……
They are trying to desensitize the way we think about not only the elderly, but also ALL groups of people who are not “normal” and think of them in terms of a price tag and how that price tag will effect ‘me’. Dear God.
What have people done for thousands of years before medicare, medicaid, social security, pensions and savings? Families took care of each other.
Report Post »People just might have to be responsible for their own. Wow, what a concept.
OLDPAINT
Posted on August 16, 2012 at 11:04amTruer words have never been spoken, LOUISE. (It’s no fun to be left out in the rain.) A lousy metaphor, I know, but I’ve seen both sides of the coin. :) :(
Report Post »hi
Posted on August 15, 2012 at 9:11pmWhen God says to honor your mother and father, He is talking to adults.
Report Post »italy2007
Posted on August 15, 2012 at 9:18pmExcellent – I cannot imagine caring for my parents to be a “burden” as society would like for everyone to think. We owe them our lives for God’s sake
Report Post »churchlady
Posted on August 15, 2012 at 9:05pmI understand that it can be very challenging, frustrating, and sometimes even lonely having to care for our elderly. However, it is our responsibility. I’m sure they felt the exact same way at times as they raised us. Our society does not seem to have any reverence or respect for our elderly. They are valuable!
Report Post »Maxim Crux
Posted on August 15, 2012 at 9:18pmWisdom comes with age. It has always been the Marxist Way to do away with the wise as soon as possible. You are right, the saying, what comes around goes around stands true. I tell my daughter that some day it will be her responsibility to change my poopy diaper like I changed hers when she was a baby. The elderly should be cherished and respected always…and I am not just saying that because I am old either.
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