美国国家公共电台 NPR--A full-time caretaker reflects on living and caring for her ailing mom

A full-time¹ caretaker reflects on living and caring for her ailing² mom

Transcript³

Lauren Ahlgren, 34, is a full-time caregiver for her mom with Alzheimer's in Healdsburg, CA. She feels isolated⁴, wants a family of her own, and is grieving her mom while she's still alive.

A MART?NEZ, HOST:

In her latest look at folks living in multigenerational households, NPR's Claire Murashima brings us the story of a woman in Healdsburg, Calif., who has questioned what it means to be living with her mom as a 34-year-old.

CLAIRE MURASHIMA, BYLINE⁵: Lauren Ahlgren is a swim instructor⁶. She's also a writer and a full-time caregiver to her mom.

LAUREN AHLGREN: My mom used to semi-joke when we were younger that once she got older, she's like, just take my license⁷ away. And I thought of that when we did have to, like, take her car away from her.

MURASHIMA: She grappled with societal expectations around living at home when her mom developed early onset⁸ Alzheimer's.

AHLGREN: At first it was - there was kind of, like, a little bit of shame. Or, like, I guess I kind of felt weird⁹ about being in my 30s and living back at home. It's not what I had envisioned for myself. And I definitely didn't expect my mom to get ill so early on in her later years. So that really didn't, like, sit well with me.

MURASHIMA: Before becoming a caregiver, Lauren used to go on weekly hikes and travel. One day, she wants kids, but she doesn't have a partner, nor does she have time to date.

AHLGREN: I just feel like a single mom, and I really miss all the other aspects of my life.

MURASHIMA: She's dealing¹⁰ with something else, as well.

AHLGREN: It's also really hard to grieve someone when they are alive. It's such a drawn-out process with Alzheimer's.

MURASHIMA: She's asked her two siblings¹¹ for help. But...

AHLGREN: At this point, even though I've asked for help many times, it just kind of, like, always ends up being on my plate anyway. So I just take charge.

MURASHIMA: For the last couple of years, she's had to evacuate¹² because of the Northern California wildfires. She also lives with the uncertainty¹³ of whether or not she'll be able to even afford more advanced care for her mom one day. But Lauren says one of the toughest things is the isolation¹⁴. She's been vocal¹⁵ with family and friends, but it's all a growing burden.

AHLGREN: This has been ongoing¹⁶ for five years now, and I'm tired of talking about the same thing.

MURASHIMA: Lauren says the one silver lining¹⁷ of the pandemic is that she was able to save money. For the most part, she could still work but wasn't spending very much. Before the pandemic, though, she says, they were living paycheck to paycheck.

AHLGREN: My mom is low income, and her Social Security doesn't even cover half her mortgage. So I have to cover everything else.

MURASHIMA: She's in the process of selling the house they live in. And once they sell it, Lauren hopes there will be enough money to move her mom into a memory care facility. As it is, she spends a lot of money on making sure someone is always looking after her.

AHLGREN: So in order to go to work, I have to hire a caregiver to hang out with her, which is great. She loves it. But it's definitely expensive.

MURASHIMA: Lauren has developed strategies to make it work, like starting each day with the same ritual.

AHLGREN: Hi. Good morning.

I make a point of spending every morning waking up and then going into her room to cuddle her and the dog just so we can start the morning off on, like, a good note.

How come you're hanging off the bed here? Oh, the dogs took your spot. Here.

MURASHIMA: She's making the most of their time together before someone else becomes her mom's primary caregiver. And maybe then she'll find the time to go on those hikes and start thinking about building a family of her own, the life she thought she'd be living at 34.

Claire Murashima, NPR News.

(SOUNDBITE OF COM TRUISE'S "PROPAGATION")

1 full-time   

adj.满工作日的或工作周的，全时间的

参考例句：

• A full-time job may be too much for her.全天工作她恐怕吃不消。
• I don't know how she copes with looking after her family and doing a full-time job.既要照顾家庭又要全天工作，我不知道她是如何对付的。

2 ailing   

v.生病

参考例句：

• They discussed the problems ailing the steel industry. 他们讨论了困扰钢铁工业的问题。
• She looked after her ailing father. 她照顾有病的父亲。

3 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

4 isolated   

adj.与世隔绝的

参考例句：

• His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
• Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。

5 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

6 instructor   

n.指导者，教员，教练

参考例句：

• The college jumped him from instructor to full professor.大学突然把他从讲师提升为正教授。
• The skiing instructor was a tall,sunburnt man.滑雪教练是一个高高个子晒得黑黑的男子。

7 license   

n.执照，许可证，特许；v.许可，特许

参考例句：

• The foreign guest has a license on the person.这个外国客人随身携带执照。
• The driver was arrested for having false license plates on his car.司机由于使用假车牌而被捕。

8 onset   

n.进攻，袭击，开始，突然开始

参考例句：

• The drug must be taken from the onset of the infection.这种药必须在感染的最初期就开始服用。
• Our troops withstood the onset of the enemy.我们的部队抵挡住了敌人的进攻。

9 weird   

adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的

参考例句：

• From his weird behaviour,he seems a bit of an oddity.从他不寻常的行为看来，他好像有点怪。
• His weird clothes really gas me.他的怪衣裳简直笑死人。

10 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

11 siblings   

n.兄弟，姐妹( sibling的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• A triplet sleeps amongst its two siblings. 一个三胞胎睡在其两个同胞之间。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She has no way of tracking the donor or her half-siblings down. 她没办法找到那个捐精者或她的兄弟姐妹。 来自时文部分

12 evacuate   

v.遣送；搬空；抽出；排泄；大(小)便

参考例句：

• We must evacuate those soldiers at once!我们必须立即撤出这些士兵！
• They were planning to evacuate the seventy American officials still in the country.他们正计划转移仍滞留在该国的70名美国官员。

13 uncertainty   

n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物

参考例句：

• Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
• After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。

14 isolation   

n.隔离，孤立，分解，分离

参考例句：

• The millionaire lived in complete isolation from the outside world.这位富翁过着与世隔绝的生活。
• He retired and lived in relative isolation.他退休后，生活比较孤寂。

15 vocal   

adj.直言不讳的；嗓音的；n.[pl.]声乐节目

参考例句：

• The tongue is a vocal organ.舌头是一个发音器官。
• Public opinion at last became vocal.终于舆论哗然。

16 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

17 lining   

n.衬里，衬料

参考例句：

• The lining of my coat is torn.我的外套衬里破了。
• Moss makes an attractive lining to wire baskets.用苔藓垫在铁丝篮里很漂亮。