My mother's friends are accusing me of abusing my mother and giving her dementia. Has anyone else had this problem?

am so glad you came and watch over your mother just in time .
my dad was 84 yrs old and pulled out in front of a semi ! luckly him and my step mom didnt get killed !
dementia is part of disease and it doe's not cause by anybody causing it .
those idiot people need to stay away from ur mother , glad she likes ur friends .
i never had to deal with it but my brother has and that is one of other reason for him to get out of fla and be in indiana with me .
gotta be careful around those cons . mostly is my father s step kids , since his wife pass away 2 yrs ago .
hope u;ll have everything taken care of soon . youre a good pesron !

I'd put together a sunny cheery Happy New Years letter with photos of the fun times your mom is having and the things you did, with a little half sentence, "now that we've moved Mom from the toxic situation in ____, her life has blossomed."

And probably those bad eggs have known friends whose deadbeat kids have ripped off their parents in the guise of being caregiver. Or it's happened to them. We've heard about it plenty on this list...including my mom's case.

Hi Bobbie! I thought you were talking about my mom at first. Her blackout behind the wheel of her car and subsequent wreck kept her from driving for six months, then another blackout at home with a letter to the Secretary of State took her license away. She was on 200 mcg Fentanyl pain patches, Tylenol with Codeine #3 and #4, mixed with alcohol for over 50 years. Funny thing is, after weaning her off (with my and her new Physician's help) she didn't have the pain she'd complained of for years. Now her friends are trying to help her get her license back. Doc said no driving last summer, so we sold the car. She's mad about that now, saying I "had no right."

She told people that I wouldn't give her any money, (even though I gave her plenty) so they feel sorry for her and give her some of their own. When I try to tell them she's lying, they say, "We don't believe you." But it's their money, and I tried to warn them. She actually has more than they. If they want to give theirs away to her, that's their problem. Very gullible if you ask me. They love to side with her and enable her OCPD and paranoia about me, too. She's also got a Dependency and Anxiety Disorders. Must be that her friends have issues as well if they can't see what's going on. Hence: water seeks it's own level.

She was always abusive and neglectful of my sister and me. And she was abusing and neglecting my dad who has Alzheimer's Disease, so he was removed from the home. She's so mean to him when she visits, that even he complains to the nurses about her, so the Social Worker limited her visits. They told me to tell her friends she has a Personality Disorder (several--by diagnosis) and they say, "It can't be true; she's lovely!" But to me, she's not. She's the very text book replica of a Borderline/sometimes Narcissist (BPD/NPD). And if you read the book, "Stop Walking on Eggshells," you'll see how they can fake it pretty good to the outside world. They just aren't seeing what we're seeing...yet. There will come a day when they can no longer fake it with outsiders. Mom's friends have even called the DHS on me; funny thing is, no one believed them. They just did a little background check, and nothing more was said. Consider the source, I say.

Those who haven't experienced it firsthand, or don't recognize it, just don't understand. Try telling them, and they look suspect at you. They're blind and cannot see. The reason? People with BPD charms the socks off them, then turns on the ones they're closest to. Ask my family members. Ask the police who get the phone calls, who know exactly what they're dealing with.

Coping with mental illness is no joy ride for loved ones. Outsiders and peripheral family members and friends just don't understand. They never will unless they are targeted with BPD behavior. That is just the way it is. However, there are people who know all about it, and if you're in question about someone's behavior, Google: Personality Disorders. You'll be amazed at what you find there. Try BPD, NPD, OCPD, etc. And there are many more... It is not like ordinary dementia, though has similar characteristics. Doctors don't see it in a 15 minute office visit unless someone is real far gone. I'm just so thankful to have found it all in black and white as diagnosed by competent professionals.

So, let them talk and rail away. I smile and thank God for my sanity, and for the peace of mind that comes from knowing mom's problems are hers, and have nothing to do with me. It does hurt, but it's others' short-sidedness, and not mine. I don't need to fear what they say when I can open up a book that lines up with my observations. I'm trying to not worry what others think of me, because I know what I have lived through for the last 52 years, and they don't. Neither do they want to hear. I have a year's worth of mom's recorded rantings and they are ravings from a mad mind. I keep them to protect me in case I ever need to defend myself against her word verses mine.

I am concentrating on my friends who love and cherish me. They're encouraging and a joy to my heart and soul. It's like God has taken all that pain and said, "Look, here's a host of loving people to surround you and lift your spirits." I can say today that my cup overflows. Every time I turn around I get a blessing of some sort. The only pain comes when I'm around my mom. So I let the phone just ring away, and spend time with a friend instead. Do I want to wallow in my mother's muck and mire, or go on my merry way? Let her complain! What's it to me? If she wants to live in that sick world, gossiping about me behind my back, saying all sorts of evil against me, well, have at it honey! I don't. That's just another element of knowing the truth and being set free.

I was catering to mom's every whim, trying to meet her needs, but never could. She has a new caregiver now, who's legally responsible for her care. The courts say mom is incapacitated and needs a guardian and conservator. Let them do her bidding for $60.00 a month. All I got was grief, so we say, "Don't call to complain." I've heard all I want for a lifetime. I won't worry or fret, since she's reaping what she sowed. My reward comes from above, and so far, am showered so well, my cup overflows. Seems God heard my prayers and sent relief.

With my mother-in-law, she's NOT lying about stuff I do for her, she honestly doesn't remember from moment to moment. It's frustrating when going to her doctor, she says she's fine and has no complaints. He will put her thru a mini memory test, and EVERY dang time she passes with flying colors. I swear it's selective memory sometimes! He doesn't see or hear the stuff she tells us on a regular basis. She has convinced strangers that those really ARE NOT her eye glasses she's wearing, but someone else's. She believes what she's telling them, and that makes it all the more convincing. She had my mom going for awhile till I explained the problems to her. So Bobbie, it doesn't surprise me that the people that know your mom believed her. Unless they're being deliberately deceitful, they might honestly believe that she is being taken down the 'garden path' so to speak. And since you're being accused to causing dementia, why not tell them you also caused cancer?

naheaton, I say you KNOW what you're looking at. What a great sense of humor!

my mom passes mini mentals with flying colors, too. But when taken to a 4 1/2 hour Geriatric Assessment Clinic evaluation, she didn't pass at all. The team of Physician, Social Worker, Nurse, and Pharmacist said she rang every mental illness bell. Mom told them I caused all her problems, and that her children (sis and me) were the reason she acted the way she did. How incredible that we could make her abuse us! She threw my little sister down the stairs, who said she tried to kill her. They said Mom needs a Psychiatrist (but he was more incompetent than my mother!). They also said mom will get much worse. Don't want to go to that picture show!

We second-guess ourselves, hoping someone will back us up. I say, trust your instincts. Use a video recorder with sound, and send a copy to unbelievers. Ha! Send along a bag of popcorn and some juju fruits. Invite the whole neighborhood, or play it at a family reunion. Now there's a novel idea.

I'd totally forgotten about those mini-mental test the doctor gives. My mom passes those all the time too yet she will ask me what day is today 15 times a day.

The recorder is a good friend though I agree. About 7 months ago I just said that I was going to save my moms messages and they are some dozzies!!! I'm saving some now as well. Sometimes when she starts telling me how good my sister is to her, it's all I can do to keep from playing those msgs where she talks about how they neglect her. But I don't.

That was a good one about the cancer naheaton, classic. I'm still laughing!

you guys are wonderful. naheaton, very funny. yes, I'm a carrier.

Secret Sister, thanks for all that writing.. you and I have shared the BPD, which is awful as we both know only too well.

thank you all for some great suggestions and comfort. I am grateful for all of your knowledge and experience.

SS, I know what you mean with the fact that they are very charming and can convince people of anything.

Mom was inside this gossip circle and I know that must have something to do with it all because I did alter the circumstances so these people did not have free access to her. When I got there I realized quickly that she could be just fine and we were all getting along, then one of these people would call her and she would whisper and start to act out. By the time she got off the phone she was a beast and would stay that way for the rest of the day. This interferene peaked on my mom's birthday in 2008. It's been almost gone since.

She would also give me the never ending evil eye. In the beginning it took over 18 months before she smiled at me.

there's a lot of laughing here now. I will grab one of mom's feet and wiggle her toes and ask her if these are her piggies. That makes her giggle like a two year old. that and telling her every once in awhile to go get some beer. Neither one of us drinks these days but it's funny to see the look on her face when I say How about some beer? today we feasted on Chinese food and watched the Modern Marvels marathon.

Her friends don't get that she's someone you would play peek a boo with and grab her piggies. It is amazing that someone would get blamed for causing dementia. It's actually kind of funny now that I know I'm not alone. thanks again naheaton!

I guess that it is the natural thing for some people to want to believe the worst about those of us who are responsible for our parents.

I would like to send pictures but everytime we pick up a camera mom goes from pleasant to pathetic. Unbelievable. I'll have to sneak a pic!

I was never able to get her on video being 'extreme' but enough people have witnessed the behavior. I did get video of the house stuffed full of the fruits of hoarding before I fixed it. thankfully I don't have siblings to argue with. Man that would punch the ticket.

thank you for the suggestions and stories and I look forward to seeing how many others surface that have been unfairly accused/abused.

Bobbie

Bobbie:

I've, and still am, going through some of the toxicity from relatives and friends of the Puerto Rican side of my family (the other is Brazilian). He had a long bout with prostate cancer, and while taking care of him I forgot to take care of myself and dropped a lot of weight. I had such a "gone with the wind" look that rumors began spreading about my chronic drug use, and that the reason I "volunteered" to take care of him was because I needed his money to keep getting high.

My parents divorced in 1964. My three sisters stayed in NYC; I, the only boy, went to the Amazon with my father. I was the spitting image of my Dad, and Mom couldn't possibly keep something that reminded her of someone she hated. Still, he wanted to make sure every one of his children received his/her patrimony.

His entire Brazilian family, who had lived on about 2,900 acres for almost 100 years, had handed down the land from generation to generation to the eldest male. I would, then, continue this tradition. Still, Dad provided for all his children quite well and no one had ever done without. ... Except my three Puerto Rican sisters, whom my mother deprived of their share of Dad's estate because "she didn't want any charity and didn't need a man to survive." Mom returned his money orders as well as unopened letters and birthday cards to my sisters that included money. Well before he got sick, he drafted a Living Will & Testament that didn't include my three sisters because that's how my mother wanted it. Dad, however, left plenty of money with me for my three sisters so they could "grieve in style."

After returning from South America two weeks later, I contacted my sisters to come pick up their money. They were at my doorstep half an hour later. Each one received about $75K as well as the unopened letters and birthday cards my mother returned to him out of spite. My mother had brainwashed them all these years, so they grew to resent -- if not hate -- my Dad for "abandoning them and not sending a penny for child support." Pot after pot of coffee, tears dripping on the pages, they read every last letter and birthday card.

Completely left out of the Will, my mother retaliated by spreading vicious lies about my drug use, told my wife that I was cheating, told me that my wife confessed to her our twins are not mine, pinned every large scar on her body to my Dad rather than her drunken part-time "husbands," turned old friends and neighbors into my enemies, and went as far as claiming that I also physically abused her just as my father Did. There was absolutely no proof to all of this, but they believed her. My wife and I requested we met at her house along with her circle of friends so we could cross the "t"s and dot the "i"s. She refused, so we showed up and she didn't open the door. A couple of days later my wife and I were picked up by the police in the middle of the night for "menacing" her with a machete and a baseball bat. The consummate actress, even the police believed her. She was given an Order of Protection, so my wife and kids couldn't even come near 100 feet from her. Sending her mail was also construed as harassment -- even a Xmas card. ... Now, at 77, she claims no one comes to visit and no one cares about her; and told me to forget she was my mother. "I almost have," I responded.

All in all, my sisters continue to side with her. To them, my Dad was an abusive cockroach with money who deserved everything he got. All four of them now have a common objective: getting me to sell the property he left. It'd require the eviction of the entire extended family, but they don't care. I have two words for them: NEVER HAPPEN. Also, my heart and my home are no longer open for inconsiderate, selfish, greedy, and parasitic people who only care about themselves. It doesn't matter whom, it doesn't matter where, but that kind of stress is not an option for me. When all is said and done, I've done the best I could with what I had, my conscience is clear, and I don't owe anything to anyone.

Take care of yourself Bobbie, and try to stay balanced.

Dear sir, what a sad story. Praying for you and your loved ones!

What you have witnessed is on a grand scale of how devastating divorce can be for children. How two people who were supposed to love each other at one time, can turn into hateful, vindictive people who make the kids take sides, is beyond belief. If they hate each other so much, why can't parents pretend the children are like Switzerland, and keep them neutral? It is selfishness, pure and simple. I'm sorry you had to go thru that with your family (such as it is) but honestly I'd write off your mother all together. She obviously has made her choice to hate anyone who DIDN'T hate your father. I feel bad for your sisters being manipulated like they are. But at some point don't they have to decide for themselves about stuff? How long does someone just blindly go along with a person that is so full of hate? To me that would raise red flags in the first place, knowing it was so one sided. The only thing that you can do at this point, is to make sure you're the best dad possible, and learn what "NOT" to do from your childhood. Sorry.

Oh, Edvierajr,

That is so awful. I am so sorry that you and your family have had to experience these terrible things.

Thank you for your words and thank you for your strength. Your family is so fortunate that you are you and have the integrity it takes to handle this.

I'm sorry for the loss of your father who tried so hard to keep his family together in the wake of this devastating woman.

So your sisters, even after the amazing gift of learning about their father through his words.... cards and letters... still don't get it? sux

You have really touched me and I am sure, all of us who read your post.

I hope you and your wife and family are recovering from this terrible betrayal.

sometimes with the presence of BPD it is so hard to see the dementia.

There should be a series of Public Service Announcements on tv so people not understanding yet what these folks are up to can get a jump on the situation.
I think you all know what I mean... There's the aricept commercial but that is with the 'perfect' family. Dad takes the pill and it's business as usual.

With Personality disorders like the ones we have been dealing with, the person is so screwed up with their hates and suspicions and all of the negative crap they wallow in, it makes it hard for us to see that they are losing it more than usual...
My mom could always be nasty to me at the drop of a feather. She whip it out fast and furious so I became so wary of setting her off... well that's the 'walking on eggshells' everyone is so familiar with, that I didn't really understand how bad she was. I blame myself for how bad it got before I intervened. I was in LA, just got the job of my life, after working for it for 6 years and I would call my mom a few times a week, she was 'just fine' on the phone. She covered it so well and when I would suggest that I come to her for a week so I could help with maintenance, etc she would become hostile and vicious and spew all kinds of mean things at me so I would back off. She told me that she had it handled, didn't need me, she had friends that were more important to her than me....blah blah. Seriously.

There was only a few people who knew who she really was to me. My ex-husband who is a sweetheart, heard her on the phone with me MANY times. I would call to see how she was doing and to hopefully shoot the bull without setting off a s***storm, and not always, but frequently, while she was recounting some incident between her and someone else that was always negative, she would flip out and start blaming ME for whatever she was experiencing. No kidding!.. This has been my mom's MO since I had conscious memory as a little kid. My ex would hear her screaming over the phone and calling me all kinds of names and telling me how awful I was, etc etc.

We have a next door neighbor that knows the whole story and has witnessed the insanity, and my current husband saw it all first hand. Mom actually accused him of 'coming on' to her! Told EVERYBODY. If it wasn't for him, she would have physically attacked me in the first 6 months I was back east dealing with the whole thing. If it wasn't for him I would have been dead 4 years now. he has literally been my knight and my sanity.

it's important for those of us who have been wronged like this to have someone who knows. The rest of the world thinks that my mom is a saint. I'm not kidding. She had a little group of acolytes (sp) that have really been nasty to me. One woman told me; your mother is a saint to me.. and i know she was a saint to her. this poor lady got a lot of comfort from my mom. My mom loved a lot of people and was good to a lot of people. She was good to me and supportive... I am trying to stay balanced but the disconnect of the BPD makes it a huge proce to pay for having a parent. Our memories are stained with insanity and we struggle to dig through the crap and find the good stuff, baby.

I always knew she was sick. Even when I was really little I knew she was sick because of the constant lying. I loved her more than anything and in many ways she was an amazing mother who taught me wonderful things. But there was that flip side and it was horrifying. When my Dad started drinking (WWII untreated PTSD, job stress... MOM) I was about 10 or 11 it was over. Hell on Earth in that house. We had good times but when it went South, it was CRAZY. I didn't know what was wrong with me and actually it has affected me all of my life because I am actually very awkward socially. oh yeah. shy, but tries to cover with a big mouth. That and I have the scars of many buses that I have been thrown under.

I ain't crying/whining... it just is and despite all of this stuff I was determined to have a great life and I would like to have some more if it's ok, without killing myself straightening out my mothers health, real estate, hoarding (over 8000 sq ft total of crap squirrelled away..between 2 houses, and a big commercial building...over 5 years and still cleaning that out) and on top of that, the ignorance of the people the were supposed to be her 'friends'.

I think, honestly, that her 'friends' were impressed by the RE and that was primarily their reaction to me, that I was only there for the property and money oh Ed....I get blamed for drugs also, but I am the absolute opposite of 'gaunt'.

I am pleasantly suprised that I am not institutionalized.

In order to socialize my mother to where we could live with her we spent many years and a lot of tears. I certainly didn't and can't now trust her.... she has trusted me. I kept telling her that she was 'safe and sound'. I tried every trick I knew to build trust and help her relax. It worked. Now like I mentioned earlier, the disease has taken the broken personality and left the sweet lady everybody else has been talking about!

I know that I've said that I wouldn't do this again. If I had it to do over I would have placed mom. That is because my health has declined so. (I'm working hard on bringing myself back to health) The fact that I can sit with my mom without acrimony and get her to laugh, etc etc does make me grateful that we have this time together. But man, what a price. It was like taming a feral animal. Absolutely soul sucking.

Thanks you guys for letting me vent. and thanks for sharing your lives. I am appreciative of your time and I look forward to learning more.

lovbob

bobbie, O my! So glad you have a place to share your experiences and hurts in safety. My heart so goes out to you, and the more because I understand. Ever think how we've had to fight to maintain sanity ourselves? A lot of people take it for granted. The only thing some kids take for granted is getting abused. There are many out there who will never understand. But, thanks be to God that we not only survived, but thrived. I call it divine protection. Some are not so lucky, as mental illness often takes its toll on innocent victims. Stress alone can kill a person if it becomes extreme. Mom made my sister lie about where bruises were coming from, saying she "fell." Hmmmmmm. I still find it amazing, as horrible as my mother still treats me, that others think she's "lovely." It makes my stomach hurt and brain confused.

I know from my own experience, that yours, "ours" is not unique and probably common.

I know my father best, but his church friends wanted to feel good thinking that my dad could be cared for with some occasional cookies dropped off at the house, or by sitting with him at a church lunch. His square-dancing "friends" cut him off and made him sit when he couldn't learn the steps anymore.

They just conveniently ignored things when he started getting lost while driving, but his car poolers slowly disappeared. The cookies didn't help when his mind became incapable of cooking for himself. Etc., etc.

When I removed my dad from his place for a "permanent vacation" with us, his children, I got irate calls from the pastor and "friends." Yah I said--talk to the hand. Walk in our shoes, not by the side of the road.

That's why family is family -- and you ignore the goody-two-shoes and ignorant.

"family is family" ha ha. how many family members are trying to sink their parent's boat and double cross the real caregiver. Wish I had a family like yours (have a few good apples, the rest are rotten).

OK TELL ME HOW DO YOU GIVE SOMEONE DEMENTIA I DNT KNOW HOW YOU DO THAT BUBBA321 THATS A QUESTION FOR UR FRIENDS TO EXPLAIN TO ME I THOUGHT IT COME FROM THE BRAIN OF MEMORY..SO TELL YOU FRIENDS TO COME ON HERE THE ONES THAT ARE ACCUSING YOU OF GIVING UY MOM DEMENTIA..AND EXPLAIN IT TO ME (HAHAHAHHA) THATS SO FUNNY THAT I REALLY FORGOT TO LAUGH

?

ALL I WANTED TO KNOW IS WHO IS ACCUSING WHO OFMAKING THEIR MOM HAVE DEMENTIA,,I JUST WANTED TO KNOW HOW IS IT YOU GIVE SOMEONE DEMENTIA? THAT IS MY QUESTION

Ok, please read this whole thing before you judge us. Me and my 2 sisters are taking care of our sick, elderly aunt. We loved her dearly all our lives but never had to live with her 24/7…365 days a year….so we did not know her true personality. So when she got sick and was widowed, we volunteered to take care of her. She had no one but us so at first we thought we could all 3 do it, ya know, take turns. Over time, one by one we ended up moving in with her to save her money and make sure that she did not have to go into a nursing home. We did not trust strangers to watch over her every need. Now, we are all trapped into taking care of her (because we are getting old and sick and gave up our lives to help her!). Our aunt is not rich, not by any means. She only has a small 2 bedroom house that ‘might’ be left to us. We gave up everything to take care of her because we felt so bad that she was sick and her husband had died. She was alone. NOW…My aunt constantly ridicules and criticizes one of my sister’s because of her being overweight. My sister has become overweight but she has since developed C.O.P.D., osteoarthritis (has been laid up with broken leg and foot bones twice in the past 4 years… for months at a time. The bones would not heal normally), diabetes and chronic depression. My aunt threatens us all time with kicking us out and cutting all of us out of the will if she gets mad for any reason. (ex: she gets mad if my overweight sister eats a sandwich. Quote from my aunt: “you can live off the fat you have on your gut for a month. You don’t need a sandwich.”). My other sister has developed all kinds of illnesses including autoimmune diseases, seizures, gastric tumors and other health problems. My aunt gets mad at her for being sick! I have developed health problems too and none of us know what to do. We love our aunt. No one ever talks about or mentions the kind hearted caretakers that are sometimes actually abused (usually emotionally or financially) by the people they take care of. It happens. It sounds really weird…but it happens. We are living proof. We are held hostage with threats of being kicked out. Even after leaving our jobs, giving up our own homes and sometimes (as in my case) losing my spouse of 20yrs from the stress and financial burden of trying to care of my sick elderly relative. It’s amazing how trying to take care of someone can turn into something like this. We still love her, we will always love her and we know she is not well and we all 3 pray for her every day.

Bvcxz,
While you and your sisters intentions were admirable and unselfish, maybe it's time you'all DO move on. You know the saying 'familiarity breeds contempt' which is what this sounds like.
Could it be that the stress of living with someone who is so negative and mean spirited is adding to, or even causing some of your illnesses? I am so glad that you'all stuck together with taking care of her though, but now it may be time to all stick together again by moving out of her little house and leaving the negativity behind.

shame of being a lost, almost orphaned person, about five years ago, I realized she did the best she could; if I ever wanted forgiveness I better be able to give it. She immediately made me her health care p.o.a. Mom told me sister slapped her, yelled at her, scolds her and left her at the emergency room for three hours. At first I was honored because she so clearly favored my sister. But even after showing up for Mom, she started telling a long lost relative the worst thing I did when I was 15 years old--I'm 59 now, embellished it and made it sound worse--I took the family car for a joy ride. Hmmm. Then she had a fall and broke her wrist. My sister who lives 15 minutes away (I Iive 50 miles away) can't even talk to me unless she talks down to me and won't cooperate or assist because she is "too emotional to see mom like this." She's shown up once in 3 weeks, at night to drop off food when I wasn't there, but calls, grills me and clicks her tongue because she was a nurse practitioner (nurse Jackie more like it). Our family meets the dysfunctional family definition in wikipedia--perfectly. Yesterday, at Christmas, I asked sister when she would bring mom home so I could coordinate with the caregiver. She said, "that's not our problem." Writing's on the wall.
So, what do I do? Get a video camera, witnesses, an attorney, or just walk away? When I walked away before it was to save my life, but I had a nagging sadness that nobody cared. Now, it may be the best thing because I wonder why should I put myself through this, again? There was never any emotional bank balance to begin with and maybe this was just a hopeless dream to redeem a horrible experience. Now that the true care-taking is beginning, it looks like it's going to be really bad. I don't need it! It doesn't have to be this way, but it is. Maybe they deserve each other!

My mother in law used to accuse her brothers wife of causing his dementia, said its because she told him what to do all the time, and if she would let him speak his own mind and quit telling him when to go to the bathroom he would be fine. I reconized it as her compansating and taking care of him due to his progressing dementia. My mother in law was a wonderful woman, she just had denial over her brothers disease. Now a few months ago he has passed and his wife has had a stroke, and she had built her own space onto our home. After being in a nuseing home for 3 weeks she decided she cuoldnt stand it and her funds would quickly deplete and she would have nothing left in a couple of years, so since I am a c.n.a and am home now and willing to, she spent a fraction of what a year in the nursing home would have cost her and built her own small bath,small bedroom, and small living area. We have 5 kids and she never had any, so she wanted her own space. We thought what a perfect solution, we also live in a small town and were the center of all the talk and accusations. The most painful thing was, most of them came from what we thought was our friends. The weekend her room was done and she moved in I had a big blowup with the 2 women in our group of couple friends. The source, one of them who's mother was my aunts house keeper. She(the so called friend of mine) was claiming that my aunt had told her mom, that we were chrging her 500 dollars a month to live with us. It was a lie the housekeeper has denied saying it and also my aunt, and it just didn't fit. But I guess in this little circle in the senior housing apartment where my aunt had lived previous to her stroke
, which by the way, none of the people in the circle ever visited her she was all alone there. They were all just a bunch of gossipers, claiming we were only doing it for the money( what money?) And only so she would build onto our house, it was her idea. And many other things about us that were so far from the truth, I was shocked, you hear of people being accused of this, you think how awful those people are to take advantage of an elderly mom,dad,family member. you never stop and wonder if it is true. You never think someone would ever accuse you of that. Well I guess they do,and I will take more caution now in believing it when someone is accused, it may be that they are just a caring person and other people have nothing better to do than create drama. By the way the girl that started all the drama,whose mom was my aunts housekeeper,told me to my face that she had been angry with me,ever since our family moved into a bigger nicer home and out of a trailer home 3 years ago. So by my aunt adding onto it to make it bigger it pissed her off. (Jelousy and childeshness) I should have known.

Bobbie, I have been dealing with my husbands sisters and cousins for the last 14 years. They don't come visit, rarely call, send over the counter pills in which she has to be monitored with, have called the cops on me, turned me into the office of aging, ( I just had a state trooper here yesterday), it just goes on and on. I am so sick of them because they don't call and ask us anything. Their mother has dementia and endlessly talks me down to her daughters for attentiion. It works for her cuz she tells them I'm trying to kill her, keeping her meds from her and so on. Yet not a one of them helps. But they sure know how to cause endless problems. My husband is aware of all this and his answer is " don't let them get to you"! I have my own family and I have to take care of my kids too. I am very bitter anymore towards my husbands family. My health has suffered, and my state of resentment is in overdrive. I know u can't help but for all those that have circumstances like this , my heart goes out to them. And because of it all, I would tell anyone out there " Don't Ever Take on Your husbands Mother, Especially when he has ignorant sisters. Oh and let me just add, His one sister works in a nursing home and has told us time and time again she won't take her own mother. She'd place her in a nursing home. Hows that for a so called loving daughter that can do no wrong. Also the other sister stole her dads identity 15 years ago and maxed out over 25.000 dollars. Nice hah! My mother in law still waters a flower basket her daughter sent last thanksgiving . they're deader than dead but she thinks they're beautiful. God help me cuz i don't know how much more i can take from these idiots. Thanks for ur shoulder. I'llbe crying for along time.:((((

Actually....if you are taking care of your mother...and she has dementia...do what me and my brother did...get a power of attorney to handle your moms finances. The money goes to the care taker...and the care taker is suppose to use that money to care for the person...i.e. my mothers money buys her medications, buys her special foods she likes, buys her depends....ect. And if there is $5-$10 left LORD forbid you use it for something....I am sorry you need to go through this...its a very hard job to care for your mom...not only physically but I am having trouble dealing with the fact that mom is unable to do these things now. Tell them people to blow it out their ear and if they were friends they would try to help instead of hinder...tell them to stop lying on your or you will notify an attorney about pressing charges....they dont have to know if you are serious or not.