7 Family Conversations About Aging Parents (And How To Start Them)

Thanksgiving dinner is more than a national and family ritual. It is a check-in of the family Board of Directors. Yes, every family has what is effectively a Board of stakeholders with emotional, physical, and, yes, financial interests in the well-being of older loved ones. So, while you may be passing the squash and cutting another piece of pie, the turkey talk about football and current events during the meal may only be part of what table mates are thinking.

Adult children may begin pondering questions they may not want to consider but should. Moreover, they are questions that should lead to purposeful, kind, and measured conversations with Mom and Dad after the holidays, not at the table. Here are seven of those conversations.