As a longtime New York Times health reporter, Jane Gross came to believe that she was a phone call away from any piece of information that she needed. But even she found it difficult to navigate Medicare and the health care system when she and her brother, who is also a talented writer, became caregivers for their mother.
All of their specialized resources and competence proved useless. In an interview, she wonders out loud how, if they couldn’t figure it out, how could others?
Her new book, “A Bittersweet Season: Caring for Our Aging Parents — and Ourselves,” answers a lot of the questions she was asking, and more.
Gross began the book after her mother’s death, and wove together memoir, advice and public policy issues. Readers who pick up this book to learn about taking care of their ailing parents might soon realize that it’s a wake-up call to make informed decisions about their own aging. Seniors will also be interested, so the two generations might want to read this together, sooner rather than later.