Living Goldenwell: Caring For Aging Parents With Kathleen

One thing I’m learning as we build Caregiving From The Middle:

Women don’t need more information thrown at them.

They need the right guidance, from the right people, at the right time.

This week our members had access to a virtual expert session called:

Still Sharp: The Science of Optimizing Your Cognitive Edge in Midlife and Beyond

led by Despres, Caregiving From The Middle member, Contributing Expert and founder of The Wellness Navigator.

Christine is a women's brain health expert, and shared practical, science-backed guidance on what happens to the brain during midlife, what can affect memory, focus, energy, and mental clarity, and what women can begin doing now to better support their cognitive wellbeing.

It was such an important conversation because so many women in this season are caring for aging parents, managing careers, supporting families, and quietly wondering:

“How do I keep taking care of everyone else without losing myself in the process?”

This is the kind of programming we’re building inside Caregiving From The Middle.

Expert-led.
Practical.
Extremely relevant.
Supportive.

Not more late-night Googling.
Not more overwhelm.
Not more trying to figure it all out alone.

A big thank you to Despres for sharing your wisdom and collaborating with us in support of women navigating eldercare and midlife!

This is exactly why this community exists.

I'm Kathleen, founder of Living Goldenwell, where we’re building the leading community and network for accomplished women navigating eldercare and supporting aging parents.

https://livinggoldenwell.com/home

Most advice for caring for elderly parents focuses on what the daughter needs to do. But what isn't talked about enough is how the environment can do more of the work.

Inside Caregiving From The Middle, we recently hosted a workshop with Tu and Benvenuto from Aegeliss on Designing Cognitive Accessibility at Home: Simple Ways to Create More Independence and Less Stress.

The conversation explored a powerful idea: When a home is designed with clearer visual cues, more organized spaces, and simple support systems, it can reduce confusion, support independence, and ease the daily mental load families carry.

This matters deeply for women supporting aging parents, especially when memory loss, cognitive changes, or everyday overwhelm are part of the picture.

Caring for an elderly parent does not always require more effort. Sometimes, it requires better design.

This is the kind of practical, expert-led programming members of Caregiving From The Middle have access to: workshops, conversations, and resources that help women move from reacting to feeling more prepared, informed, and supported.

Thank you to Tu, Benvenuto, and the Aegeliss team for sharing your expertise with our community.

Learn more about Caregiving From The Middle here:
https://livinggoldenwell.com/community

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At Living Goldenwell, we’re building the leading community and network for accomplished women navigating eldercare and supporting aging parents. www.livinggoldenwell.com

In my latest conversation featured on The Carefullist, I share more about the season of my life when I was going through what many women are experiencing right now: caring for an aging parent while raising a family and working in a demanding corporate role. I was lacking guidance, support and a roadmap; just painfully figuring out as I went. It was REALLY HARD.

I kept thinking, why are so many millions of professional women navigating something as complex as eldercare without the right support and guidance?

That season shaped me personally and became the reason I set out to create Living Goldenwell and its amazing and authentic eldercare community and network for women. Because high-quality and comprehensive spaces for accomplished women going through it with aging parents or trying to plan is so terribly lacking in our world today.

The more I’ve spoken openly about this, the more I’ve realized how many millions of women are carrying the same weight. And that's why these conversations matter. They bring eldercare out into the open, where we can approach it with more clarity, preparation and support.

Give it a watch, or listen on the go:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mjs-29ILQos&t=2s

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I'm Kathleen Korpela and at Living Goldenwell we’re building the leading community and network for professional women navigating eldercare and supporting aging parents.
www.livinggoldenwell.com

If you're interested in learning more about the amazing eldercare community and network for professional women that I lead, watch this live workshop replay: https://livinggoldenwell.com/eldercare-community-for-women-webinar-replay

You are not alone in your experience. The women you surround yourself with will shape how you experience eldercare. Email: [email protected] Website: https://livinggoldenwell.com/

Eldercare Community for Supporting Aging Parents Navigate eldercare and supporting aging parents with connection, learning, support & resources

Most people think caring for aging parents is a personal issue.

Something you figure out as a family.
Something that quietly fits around the rest of your life.

I believed that too.

Until I was 36… holding my infant, raising a toddler, and trying to keep up with a demanding career… when my father was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.

What I thought would be something we could “manage”
became an eight-year journey that reshaped everything.

Not just my schedule.
But my role.
My identity.

I wasn’t just a daughter anymore.

I became a decision-maker.
An advocate.
Someone responsible for navigating a system I didn’t understand…
while still trying to show up for my children, my work, and myself.

And the hardest part wasn’t just the responsibility.

It was how alone it felt.

I was making life-altering decisions
with no real roadmap.
No clear guidance.
And information that never quite matched the reality I was living.

Even with so much out there…
nothing felt built for women like me.

Women balancing careers, children, and the slow, painful reality of watching a parent change.

After my father passed, I couldn’t ignore that feeling.

Not just the grief…
but the realization of how unprepared and unsupported I had been.

And how many other women were likely walking the same path… quietly.

That question stayed with me:

What if this didn’t have to feel this way?

What if caregiving could be met with clarity…
with strategy…
with real support?

That question became the beginning of Living Goldenwell.

Not as a business idea.
But as something I needed… and couldn’t find.

Grateful to CareYaya for sharing this story and helping bring visibility to what so many women are experiencing.

If you want to read the full article, you can find it here: https://livinggoldenwell.com/features

I’m curious…

What’s one part of caring for aging parents that felt harder than you expected?

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I'm Kathleen Korpela and at Living Goldenwell we’re building the leading community and network for professional women navigating eldercare and supporting aging parents.
www.livinggoldenwell.com

I was 36 when everything changed.

I had an infant, a toddler, and a career that demanded everything from me. And then my father was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.

No roadmap.
No preparation.
Just… responsibility arriving all at once.

For nearly eight years, I lived what many call the “sandwich generation.”
But there’s nothing clinical about it when you’re inside it.

It’s not just managing appointments or making decisions.
It’s watching someone you love slowly slip away…
while still trying to show up fully for your children, your work, and somehow, yourself.

And if I’m honest, the hardest part wasn’t just the logistics.

It was the silence.

The feeling that I was making life-altering decisions with no real guidance.
The realization that most of what I found online didn’t reflect my reality.
The quiet question that kept coming back…
“Am I doing this right?”

After my father passed, I couldn’t just move on.

I kept thinking about how unprepared I felt.
How alone I was.
And how many other women were likely walking the same path… without support.

That question stayed with me:
What if this experience didn’t have to feel this way?

What if women like me had access to clarity…
to strategy…
to a community that actually understands the weight of this season?

That question became the beginning of Living Goldenwell.

Not as a business idea.
But as something I needed… and couldn’t find.

Today, I see caring for aging parents differently.

Not just as a burden we carry,
but as a season that can be navigated with intention, support, and even a sense of purpose.

Because the truth is, this isn’t a small issue.

Millions of women are quietly holding families together behind the scenes.
Making decisions that impact generations.
Often without recognition, guidance, or support.

That needs to change.

I’m grateful to CareYaya for sharing this story and helping bring more visibility to what so many women are experiencing.

If this story resonates with you and you want to read the full feature, you can find it here: https://livinggoldenwell.com/features

If you’re in this season right now…
trying to hold it all together…

You’re not behind.
You’re not failing.
And you’re defini

Most women caring for aging parents are overwhelmed because they’re doing something no system was designed to support.

A full career.
A family.
And now… eldercare decisions that carry real consequences.

This isn’t a time management issue.
It’s a structural gap. And it shows up as:

• Decision fatigue
• Constant mental load
• Delayed or second-guessed care choices
• Strain across work, family and relationships

So women try to fix it the only way they know how…

They Google more. They push harder. They hold it all together.

But underneath all of this are two big unaddressed gaps - navigation support and learning from others going through it.

I talk about both of these in a recent article that also discusses models for a new kind of support:
https://livinggoldenwell.com/post/women-caring-for-aging-parents-why-community-and-connection-matter

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I'm Kathleen Korpela, and at Living Goldenwell, we’re building the leading community and network for accomplished women navigating eldercare and supporting aging parents. www.livinggoldenwell.com

One moment from the previous workshop stayed with me.

Several women shared that they had recently started noticing changes with their parents — small things that made them pause and think:

“Maybe I need to start talking about this now.”

That moment of realization is often the beginning of a new chapter.

A chapter where the relationship with a parent slowly evolves.

Where you begin thinking about things like:
• future care
• family roles and responsibilities
• medical advocacy
• supporting independence while preparing for change

It’s not always an easy transition.

But it can be a meaningful one when we have guidance, preparation, and community.

That’s why I created the Caregiving From The Middle community — a space designed specifically for women navigating this stage of life.

Inside the community, women learn, connect, and support one another as they move through the realities of caring for aging parents.

If this is a chapter you’re entering or already experiencing, you’re warmly invited to learn more.

You can explore the community here:
https://livinggoldenwell.com/community

Message me and I can share the workshop replay as well!

There’s a quiet reality so many professional women are living… and rarely talking about.

They are managing careers, families, and the growing responsibility of supporting an aging parent. 88% of women with elderly parents are doing it alone.

In my recent feature on Door Finders, I explore something that often gets overlooked in eldercare conversations - connection and learning from other women going through it.

Because caring for an elderly parent without a support system doesn’t just feel hard, it changes how decisions are made. It delays planning. It substantially increases stress. And over time, it impacts not just you as the daighter, but the person your caring for.

What I’ve seen, both personally and professionally, is this:

When women are supported through connection and guided through education and learning, everything shifts.
Clarity replaces confusion.
Confidence replaces second-guessing.
And supporting a parent becomes something they can navigate, not just survive.

If you’re stepping into this season, or alreadt in it, read the full feature here: https://purpledoorfinders.com/resources/articles/Why%20Community%20and%20Connection%20Are%20Essential%20for%20Family%20Caregivers%20Supporting%20Aging%20Parents

I’m curious…at what point did you realize caring for your aging parent(s) was becoming more than just “helping out”?!

I’m feeling really grateful after yesterday’s Caregiving From The Middle workshop.

Thank you to everyone who joined the conversation and shared your thoughts, questions, and experiences.

What stood out most during our discussion is something I see again and again:

Many women are navigating the early stages of supporting aging parents… and they often feel like they’re figuring it out as they go.

Some of the themes that came up during the workshop included:
• How difficult it can be to start conversations about aging and future care
• The emotional shift that happens when roles between parent and child begin to change
• The challenge of balancing caregiving responsibilities with work, family, and personal wellbeing
• The importance of preparation before a crisis forces quick decisions

These are deeply personal experiences, and it was meaningful to see women supporting one another in that space.

One of the reasons I created the Caregiving From The Middle community is because this stage of life can feel isolating — but it doesn’t have to be.

Inside the community, women have a space to:
• learn about eldercare topics and decisions
• ask questions and share experiences
• access practical resources and guidance
• connect with others walking a similar path

If you feel like this stage of life is beginning for you — or already unfolding — then come see what this amazing community can do for you!

Explore it here:
https://livinggoldenwell.com/community

Message me and I can send you the workshop replay as well!

One of the quiet realities of adulthood is the moment you realize…

Your parents are aging.
And the roles begin to shift.
You may start noticing things.

A medical appointment that feels more serious than usual.
A conversation about finances or housing.
A parent asking for help navigating something that used to feel easy.

For many women, this stage of life brings a mix of emotions.

Love.
Responsibility.
Uncertainty.
And sometimes the feeling of carrying a lot on your shoulders.

Especially when you’re also balancing work, family, and your own life.

What I’ve learned — both personally and through my work — is that this journey becomes so much easier when women don’t have to navigate it alone.

When we have space to learn.
To ask questions.
To connect with others walking a similar path.

That’s why I’m hosting a free live workshop conversation about supporting aging parents.

Free Live Workshop
Eldercare Community for Women — Info Session + Ask Me Anything
📅 Thursday, March 26
🕐 12pm PT / 3pm ET

Register and join us:
https://livinggoldenwell.com/eldercare-community-for-women-webinar-registration