“Eight years ago, when my Bubbie (my mom's mom) was the only person left living in Florida (her siblings had passed away and all of her children had moved up north), my mom and dad decided that Bubbie would come and live with them.
As a child, Bubbie had taken in her father-in-law so my mom grew up with a grandfather in the house. It seemed only natural that my mom would do the same for her mom. My parents built an addition to their house (a grandma-suite!) and she made the trek from sunny Florida to come live in Rockville.
My mom and dad both work from home and mom is available to take Bubbie (who no longer drives) to doctors appointments, card games and other social activities. Taking care of an aging parent is trying. In fact, I don't think Bubbie's quality of life would be nearly as good if my parents were not around to take care of her.
Paid family leave is important to me because, without the flexibility that my parents' jobs afford, they could not take care of Bubbie in her time of need. Most families are not in the situation that my family is in. Paid family leave would allow children who work full time jobs to take some time to tend to aging parents who need a hand to get to a doctors appointment, make decisions about their financial security and maintain an active lifestyle.”
