Hello, my name is Sarah. I've been a caregiver for 2 years and I live in Marysville, CA.

How did you get into caregiving?
I decided to become a caregiver for my father in law who has Parkinsons. He's about 78 years old and he requires pretty much 24 hour care.

What advice would you provide to a new caregiver?
My advice to a new caregiver would be if you're starting a new position, it's very important to find out the persons likes and dislikes, what they like to eat and not like to eat, if they take medication and to get a thorough understanding of that, what times it should be taken, any type of little behavioral things they might have or certain things they might struggle with. I also think that it takes a lot of compassion and a lot of patience.

Who is one of your most memorable clients?
A client I will never forget would be my father in law. My father in law was very, very difficult at times. He was a retired air force captain and he did have some of the most amazing stories I've ever heard. It did make the job definitely more rewarding. I learned a lot from him. He had moments where he was kind of in and out of being lucid. When he was lucid, he is a very, very intelligent wise man and he was able to even help me in my life. It put things in perspective.