Last October, my mom's doctor called me to say that Mom had reached end-stage pulmonary disease, and had asked to be moved to hospice care.
Mom lived in a different city than my home. I am very fortunate that my employer provides paid leave time, as it allowed me to spend the last week of my mom's life with her and with her sister, my aunt.
Everyone needs to be able to care for their families, especially in times of crisis, without suffering significant financial loss of wages. One of the hardest things about this situation was knowing that many of my friends face similar situations without similar support.
As all this happened my employer helped make things better by giving me paid leave, and reducing my responsibilities for the time I was away. The biggest thing I learned from all this was how much stress not having this support would add to an already painful situation.
