Jessica: “Caregiving is an active choice.”

I Swear on My Mother’s Grave

10-09-2023 • 1 hr 5 mins

Jessica Guthrie is a millennial, only child of a single mother living with Alzheimer’s. She likes to say that she has made an active, conscious choice to care for her mother in the last 8 years, at first commuting from Texas to Virginia, but now living with her mother as her full-time caregiver since 2019.


In this episode, Jessica and I talk about the definition of caregiving and what it means to her now. We also chat about how Jessica always thinks, “What would my mom have done for me?” if their roles were reversed, how hard dating is as a caregiver, advocating for good care for our loved ones, and how dignity in caregiving isn’t about you—it’s all about the other person.


As Jessica likes to say to her mom, “I got you!” And I hope after listening today, and following Jessica on Instagram at Career & Caregiving Collide, you will feel like she has you too, as she spends a lot of her life now educating others about what she has learned caring for her own mother living with dementia.


Sign up for all the latest news around this podcast, yearly retreats and see behind the scenes content on our website">website. Follow us on Instagram">Instagram.


And thank you to Chloe Baldwin">Chloe Baldwin for the social media support.


Links mentioned in the episode:




Hosted by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

You Might Like

Wartime Stories
Wartime Stories
Ballen Studios
Stuff You Should Know
Stuff You Should Know
iHeartPodcasts
Mamamia Out Loud
Mamamia Out Loud
Mamamia Podcasts
Criminal
Criminal
Vox Media Podcast Network
No Filter
No Filter
Mamamia Podcasts
The Why Files: Operation Podcast
The Why Files: Operation Podcast
The Why Files: Operation Podcast
Shameless
Shameless
Shameless Media
This American Life
This American Life
This American Life
Hysterical
Hysterical
Wondery | Pineapple Street Studios
Modern Wisdom
Modern Wisdom
Chris Williamson
Noble
Noble
Wavland
Freakonomics Radio
Freakonomics Radio
Freakonomics Radio + Stitcher