My mother Marian Perz would have wanted to march if she could.  She lived in a hospital bed in my living room for 8 years after a stroke and died at 92 last November.  She would have wanted to lift up elderly disabled people–especially women who are often the majority of nursing home residents– where people are often emotionally if not physically neglected.  She would have wanted more funding for Medicaid and Medicare so that people can live at home–and recognition that there is a segment of the American population that medically requires one-on-one care at all times–so Medicaid should be funded to provide 1-1 care for 24 hours a day with sitters or caregivers at a living wage like $15/hour as New York does–and it is a violation of the ADA for states to fail to do so and for states to refuse Medicaid funding from the federal government as many Republican governors have.  I was her primary caregiver for 8 years and did an average of 120 hours of sitter care and case management for my Mom PER WEEK while working full time!   Her Medicaid and VA pension from my dad for sitter care paid only 1/5 of her care for most of that time–but I wouldn’t have been able to scrape by without it and should would not have survived long in a nursing home.  She had a good sense of humor and understood everything around her, but she could not talk well and she got her food through a PEG tube in her stomach because she could not swallow.  My mother believed in women’s empowerment and helped support my work on my ebook about women’s leadership “Conceiving a Peaceful World”.  In October I almost passed out from exhaustion as her caregiver.  Many people would die if they didn’t have Medicaid and many do die because they don’t receive enough help.  So many elderly and disabled people are forgotten in this country.  It is heartbreaking–and caregivers who are so often women–need so much more help than they get!!!!
Thank you for making this disability March space available so I can share my Mom’s courageous story.  I wanted to go to Washington but I will march in Atlanta which is closer because I am still too exhausted to make that trip right now.  I have been largely shut in the house taking care of my Mom except for work and errands for most of 8 years.  Caregiving for ALL those who need it needs to be a national priority–whether it’s for infants, physically or mentally disabled persons, the elderly, or whoever truly needs it!   Love you Mom!!!  Miss you!

Susan Perz is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist with a Ph.D. in Education.  Her ebook about women’s leadership and peacemaking will be available in early February:  “Conceiving a Peaceful World:  Women’s BodyWisdom, Leadership, and Peacemaking.”  She took care of her beloved mother for 8 years after her stroke at home. Susan wants to encourage and empower others to know this can be very rewarding and often safer for loved ones. She also wants to advocate for more funding for elderly and disabled persons to be able to live at home instead of nursing homes.  Her Facebook page “Conceiving a Peaceful World” includes her videos on leadership skills, women and representation, women leaders of U.S. social movements and more.