Taking Care of Mother

About the Book

Taking Care of Mother: An Age of Transition is an everyday guide to being a caregiver to an elderly person, and in this case, it is the author’s mother. Over the period of a few years, she chronicles her mother’s need for a caregiver at various stages of her declining health. As this was a new experience for the daughter, she began keeping a journal of lessons learned and resources used as she fulfilled the role of her mother’s caregiver. Not every situation is the same, but there are many things that are basic when one becomes a caregiver to another. Often, the time comes and little planning has been done. This guide to the kinds of resources available (legal, financial, medical, etc.) is a valuable start to becoming a caregiver and can help in planning for the caregiver’s own future needs.

About the Author

Gwendolyn McMillan Lawe is also the author of From Wolf to Wolfwood, and she has written many articles on various topics. She was born in Emory, Texas. After graduating from Rains High School, she attended and graduated from Henderson County Junior College (now Trinity Valley Community College). She continued her education at East Texas State University (now Texas A&M University-Commerce) where she received a bachelor’s degree in business education and a master’s degree in guidance. Following in her father’s footsteps, Gwendolyn became a teacher in the Dallas Independent School District, where she retired in 2011. Teaching was paramount in the writer’s professional career; however, she also cofounded and served as director of College Bound Tours. In addition, she is cofounder of the A. C. McMillan Scholarship Fund (in memory of her father), which annually awards scholarships at Rains High School, and cofounder of the A. C. McMillan African American Museum, where she serves as its director. Her organizational affiliations include Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, the Dallas Theater Center Guild, the African American Museum, New Hope Baptist Church, American Baptist Women, South Dallas Business and Professional Women’s Club, the Rains County Genealogical Association, the East Texas Historical Association, and the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Her volunteer work with these organizations and others is extensive. Her awards and recognitions include winner of the NAACP Juanita Craft Award for Community Service, the Elks Award for Community Service, and Outstanding Ex-Student/Trinity Valley Community College. In 2000, she won the “Women of Wonder,” a national award for community service presented by the Quaker Oats Company. She received a Visiting Professional Fellowship from the prestigious Smithsonian Institution and studied at the Smithsonian in Washington, DC, during the summer of 2003. In 2004 and 2005, she was awarded scholarships to attend the National Trust for Historic Preservation conferences in Louisville, Kentucky, and Portland, Oregon, respectively. She was recognized in 2007 as a role model by the Epsilon Sigma Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority at Texas A&M University-Commerce, and in 2010 by the South Dallas Business and Professional Women’s Club during Women’s History Month (March). In 2016, she was recognized with the “We Speak Your Name” award at the South Central District’s 54th Annual Conference in Addison, Texas. Gwendolyn McMillan Lawe is a retired business education teacher. She lives in Dallas, Texas, where she continues to be active in many civic organizations. She has a daughter, Sylvia Lawe Williams, and two grandsons, Preston Lawe and Blair Williams.