Life with Pop: Lessons on Caring for an Aging Parent

(Paperback)

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From bestselling author and clinical psychologist Janis Abrahms Spring comes a refreshingly honest and tender portrait of a devoted daughter caring for her father through his final years of life After her mother died, Janis Abrahms Spring "inherited" her father-Pop- and set off on an all-consuming five-year mission to make his days as rich and comfortable as possible. This is their story, overflowing with humor, insight, and love. In beautifully crafted vignettes, spring brings their deepening relationship to life-both the joy and the imposition, the happiness and the heartaches. From her unique perspective as a clinical psychologist, Spring explores the emotional and practical complexities of parenting a parent. Inspiring, deeply moving, and frank, Life with Pop is an ultimately comforting meditation on a universal experience, as well as a book with profound lessons on how to grow old gracefully.

Reviews

"Dr. Spring's beautiful writing transports us. You will feel better knowing it's not just you who is ashamed and awed by the challenges of caring for elderly parents. I loved this book and recommend it to everyone who is beginning or ending the journey. It's a lonesome valley, made less lonesome by this remarkable book."
-Richard C. Schwartz, Ph.D., founder of Internal Family Systems therapy

"This is more than just a book about caring for an aging parent. It is about human endurance, discovering who we really are, questioning our core values, seeing our future through a magnifying glass, and coming face to face with excruciating life and death choices. In absorbing detail, the author takes us on this soul-changing journey, one that is bound to move and inspire her readers."
-Peggy Papp, M.S.W., Senior Supervisor, Ackerman Family Institute

"Tender, powerful, bluntly honest, Life with Pop explores the extraordinary personal challenges and moments of grace that come with caring for an aging parent. I was a long-distance son, loving but not present. Janis' book showed me with sharp clarity some of the joy I missed and some of the burden I was spared. Rather than inducing guilt and regret, though, it filled me with compassion for all families taking this last walk together. It was a gift to me. Read it. It will be a gift to you."
-David Treadway, Ph.D., co-author of Home Before Dark: A Family's First Year with Cancer

"This book is wonderful-so readable, so personal, so genuine. I can't wait to recommend it to my family, friends, and patients of all ages. It speaks remarkable truths about life that will enrich all who read it."
-Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., Director, Beck Institute for Cognitive Therapy and Research

Author Bio

Janis Abrahms Spring, Ph.D., is a nationally acclaimed psychologist and bestselling author. Her first book, After the Affair was a finalist for "Best First Book" and "Best Relationship Book," Books for a Better Life Awards. Her second book, How Can I Forgive You was a finalist for "Best Psychology Book," Books for a Better Life Award. Dr. Spring is a Diplomate in Clinical Psychology, a recipient of the Connecticut Psychological Association's Award for Distinguished Contribution to the Practice of Psychology, and has served as a clinical supervisor in the Department of Psychology at Yale University. Dr. Spring trains hundreds of therapists each year. She is a popular media guest on programs such as NPR, Good Morning America, Anderson Cooper 360, and the CBS Early Show, and she presents regularly at such public venues as The Smithsonian Institute, The 92nd Street Y, Omega Institute, and Kripalu Institute. She and her husband live in Westport, Connecticut, and have four sons. Michael Spring, her husband, is former publisher of Frommer's Travel Guides at John Wiley and Sons, and co-author of After the Affair and How Can I Forgive You He has a B.A. from Haverford College and an M.A. in English Literature from Columbia University. Michael Spring is former publisher of Frommer's Travel Guides at John Wiley and Sons, and co-author of After the Affair and How Can I Forgive You He has a B.A. from Haverford College and an M.A. in English Literature from Columbia University.