Yearning for Mamá:
The One From Yesteryear
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Yearning for Mamá – The One From Yesteryear, is the story of Sylvia, the caregiver, and losing her role as a daughter. The new responsibilities, initially caused mixed feelings, anger, frustration and guilt. Without the caregiver experience, she struggles as she learns how to care for her mom, as well as how to cope with the difficult times, especially when her mom falls and breaks a hip, a finger, or sprains her back. During these challenging times, Sylvia sympathizes with all the caregivers who do this as a profession.
Later, she must learn to distinguish between forgetfulness and stubbornness when her mom refuses to take her pills or eat healthy food. As challenging as it gets sometimes, there is no thought of putting her mom in a nursing home, especially after witnessing some unfavorable establishments, one was for short term physical therapy, and the other was when she visited a resident at a nursing home.
The story is of her mom and her mom’s antics. The story is of her mom’s friends, the doctors and even the paramedics. The story is of her mom’s children wanting the best for her whether they are hands-on, or from afar. The story is of caring for a mom who can be difficult at times, yet they love her just the same.
At one point, Sylvia realizes that her fears are that of denial. Denial that her mom could be leaving them soon. Denial that she can’t do things for herself that she used to do with strength and stamina. Denial that Mom has her own fears. Denial that Mom will slowly become less the mother of yesteryear.
Finally, as Mom’s caregiver, Sylvia tries to cling onto the mother from her childhood, but instead she finds her slowly slipping away. With the support of her siblings, she tries to keep her head up, but deep inside she cries in sadness when she can only see the patient, and herself as the caregiver and no longer the daughter.
Reviews
I enjoyed this quite a bit, as Sylvia helped her mother evolve into a real person as she approached old age. Sylvia's approach surely helped her readers adjust to the caregiver role as a parent ages.
— Bill Worth is a retired newspaper editor who now writes fiction and does copy-editing. His novels are House of the Sun: A Metaphysical Novel of Maui, and The Hidden Life of Jesus Christ: A Memoir, www.billworthbooks.com
Sylvia provides readers with her experiences in caring for her aging mother. She vividly describes her emotions as she navigates the challenges, she faces in supporting her beloved mother. It is a journey many of us travel and it is helpful to know we are not alone. Sylvia is a gifted and compassionate author.
— Geneva Escobedo author of Dichos de mi Padre/Sayings of my Father and Reflections of the Heart. Stories and Poems from Life
Sylvia, author of Unraveled-Journey Led by Faith and Hope, uses her conversational style of writing to engage readers in her personal struggle of caring for an elderly parent. She shares her intimate experience of a situation many of us are familiar with. Sylvia’s worries are heightened as she maneuvers the struggles of the unknown as she deals with an aging parent with declining health. As their roles become reversed, she grieves the loss of the concept of a strong mother she once loved and admired. In her usual vivid language sprinkled with humor, she allows us inside her world of doubt, fear, and uncertainties in this universal dilemma of caretaking.
— Flora Gamez Grateron, Author of Through the Door, Cuentos de Casa and Open Doors, Cuentos de Familia
Just as she did in her first book, in her newest one, Sylvia opens her life and heart to her audience and fearlessly shares what she’s endured and learned throughout her interesting life as a Mexican American woman living in the Borderlands. In her newest exploration of her experiences, Sylvia broaches the common experience of elder care. She reveals the vulnerabilities, fears, and triumphs of a deeply loving mother-daughter relationship. Sylvia writes about pain, suffering, loss, and love with a gentle but experienced hand that assures the reader they are not alone in whatever journey they may be on. This is another lovely work.
— Andrea Hernandez Holm, Author of Not Enough, Too Much
Note: All endorsers’ books can be found on Amazon.com (soft-cover, kindle)