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Elizabeth MacQueen's avatar

“The US has Women.” I grew up in a privileged society where women did not work. I knew two mothers who did and found it fascinating. Mountain Brook, Alabama had married women who volunteered.

I began getting my imprinted societal status as a Candy Striper. I was opposed to this volunteer system for older women who had to ask their husbands for money, that is, unless they were also born to a bit of wealth. Inevitably, that ran out after becoming a mother of a gaggle of children. I swore to myself I would complete my education and never be put in a position of having to have money doled out to me with an accounting for each dollar.

My grandfather was a banker, his bank in a tiny South Georgia town of Camilla and also a State Senator. Looking at my grandmother’s check book, he kept seeing GOK for purchases. He finally asked, “Margaret, what is this GOK you keep purchasing multiple times?” She replied, “With 7 children, God Only Knows.”

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Jack Herlocker's avatar

I'm sure you know, Michelle, but didn't mention (cut for brevity?) women taking care of family in the upward direction — the kids (in their 40s and 50s) taking care of parents. My wife spent most of the last two years of her mother's life living in Mom's guest room. We have no kids, while her siblings do; plus Mom's place was a ten-minute drive from where Deb worked then (and where I worked then — sometimes I would get a call at work to come to help Mom, because "I hate to bother Debbie at work all the time").

Women (*always* the women) taking care of elders is yet another "free" benefit American society counts on, whether it realizes that or not. And it's only getting worse as the people who provide professional assistance get shipped out of the country.

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