B.B. Boudreau

Novelist | Singer

Switching Gears from Take to Give

I learned something new today. Don’t you love that? Life has a good way of handing us humility in good measure almost every time we open our mouths. Here’s my discovery: Having published two of these excerpts on caring for a loved one, I suddenly started to think about the terms I have been using,…

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To All the Caretakers

This is the first part of a multipart series on caretaking for a loved one. I will delve into several aspects of caretaking and why it is one of the most important things you will ever do in your life. Caretaking is both a blessing and a curse. It sets up the potential for a…

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Pulling Away from the Casket

I felt like I had never been to a funeral. I am 55 years old and have at least several dozen funerals under the soles of my feet. Still, I stood at the casket trying desperately to see her through that drawn, plastic expression creased with makeup she would never have worn. The hint of…

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My Invisible Hero

My mother is nearly absent from the memory book of my first ten years. Only a few episodes remain in my subconscious film strip. Two stand-outs occurred when I was about six years old. One was when she whisked me to the sink to whack my back, dislodging the nasty morsel of melon lodged in…

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We Need Help

I have discovered in life that when you are in difficulty, there are all kinds of blessings that pop up from nowhere to provide respite. You simply have to anticipate them and recognize them. There were facts and fears coursing through my head the first days that Mom was living with us. I had never…

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Settling In

I jumped out of bed (more like groaned; remember, this was just months after my back surgery) the first day Mom lived with us. We were taking care of Mom! This was the ultimate gift to a parent, and right when she needed me most. I was the dutiful daughter. We would make our home…

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The Lighter Side of Alzheimer’s – The Move

The next day I had an appointment with Mom’s financial advisor. Dennis was a trusted family friend as well. He had known my mother for twenty years. He listened quietly to my story, then said something that would change my life, and my relationship with my Mom. “You know, you should consider taking your Mom…

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