BFF and TTYL – What the Heck am I Talking About?

Yesterday, we kicked off my book tour for my new book, “Be Nice to Me – I Pick Your Nursing Home” with an event and book signing at CareOne in Livingston.  My 3 children, who Laurie and I expect to be part of our support system when we reach elder status, were all there.  It is hard to imagine them in that role right now since they haven’t yet reached college age.  (My oldest, who appears on the cover of the book, just turned 18.)  But, as with any parent/child relationship, the question that we must address is “are we even speaking the same language?”

 In today’s technology heavy world, new language and terms seem to pop up overnight.  If you have children who text frequently, you might be familiar with shorthand such as BFFL (best friend for life) or TTYL (talk to you later).  I recently received an email that has been circulating, suggesting some texting codes for seniors.  BFF stands for best friend’s funeral and TTYL means talk to you louder.

 Amusing, perhaps, but it illustrates a point.  In trying to speak with our parents about the difficult and uncomfortable subjects of aging and long term care, we have to first ask ourselves whether we are even speaking the same language.  If we aren’t communicating then we can’t begin to solve the problem. 

And that is the reason I wrote the book.  So many families don’t know how to begin that process. Many need an impartial professional to help them move forward, motivate them to take action.    A great first step is to educate yourself and “Be Nice to Me” is the perfect place to start.  A compilation of short stories and features, it is designed to illustrate, through real life situations, the danger that long term care poses for unprepared families and how to fix it.  For more information go to www.benicetomebook.com and if you’d like to host a book event at your organization or facility contact us at 973-994-2287.

For those of you wondering about the follow up to Part 1 of last week’s post, I’ll post the solution next week so stay tuned.