I promised one year living with my stubbornly independent 96-year-old mother, cleaning out the house full of five decades of musty history and getting Mama moved elsewhere so I could return to my own life. As I tried to stay sane in the face of her increasing dementia and vision loss, we fought old battles . . . and learned respect and acceptance.
I came for a year — I stayed for the end.
“Gretchen Staebler has beautifully intertwined two love stories: her pure passion for the beautiful Pacific Northwest, and her complicated ties to her elderly and often exasperating mother. Staebler offers a remarkably candid and clear-eyed story of caretaking, depicting the frustration and power struggles as well as the break-through moments of joy and forgiveness. A compelling story from beginning to end.”
—Mary Lambeth Moore, author of Sleeping with Patty Hearst
“Those who bring their elderly parents to live with them have become the backbone of the nation’s long-term care system. Gretchen Staebler tests her own backbone when she does the reverse and moves back to her childhood home to take care of her 96-year-old mother. Staebler’s eye for just the right detail in just the right place is on full display throughout this beautifully rendered memoir about the infinitely puzzling and always complicated mother-daughter bond.”
—Katie Hafner, author of Mother Daughter Me and host of Our Mothers Ourselves podcast
“Mother Lode redefines ‘coming of age’ in the drama of an independent daughter who moves back to the family home to care for her 96-year-old mother. . . Specific in detail, universal in appeal, told with wit, wisdom, and compassion: if you ever had a mother. . . if you ever had a family. . . if you ever wondered if you could go home again, Mother Lode will intrigue, delight, and open your heart.”
—Christina Baldwin, author of eight books, including: Storycatcher, Life’s Companion, and The Circle Way.
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