Member-only story
Because of Compassionate Caregivers
I didn’t miss my mother during my early life
From 1960 to 1965, my father needed seven live-in caregivers.
My mother had two extensive stays in sanitoriums. She was suffering from exhaustion and needed expert care.
His parents and his sister, who worked in education, helped — even my mother’s mother came up for a while. She couldn’t stay because she was raising four grandchildren. I am still amazed that my father found all these people.
It must have been like running a political campaign. A skill my dad grew up learning. He used his Rolodex and updated it until the day he died.
I was born in 1959 and don’t remember either separation.
The women caregivers aren’t in chronological order. Instead, I’ve listed them according to the length of their stay, and their importance to me.
The young Korean translator stayed for at least a week.
She was training at the United Nations. I was too young for kindergarten, and Dad needed someone to stay with me who was reassuring. I recall standing with her at the round kitchen table while she spelled my name in Korean. The shorter way sounded like Mah-shee and the…
