Stories from Caregivers: Alan from UTAH
UT
Alan
FROM UTAH
My grandfather, J. Robert Miller, is the reason I am an advocate for older adults. Actually, his influence in my life is the reason for...well, everything that makes me who I am. I called him Grandpa. But everyone else called him Bob. He was a true renaissance man, equally comfortable gutting a fish or attending an opera. He was a pilot, an outdoorsman, a Vice President, a very successful businessman and investor, a Lion, and all-around great guy. Sadly, toward the end of his life, he was also the victim of a scam artist. That is when I began caregiving. At 82, he suffered a serious fall at his home in Utah and could no longer fly his plane to check on his real estate investments in Texas. His mild Parkinson's went full blown. An unscrupulous business partner took advantage and started stealing from him, then demanding more and more money to "save"� his investments. Too proud to ask for help, this went on for a couple of years and cost him several million dollars. I was just graduating from law school in Connecticut, so when things really blew up, my family and my grandpa asked me to get involved. I spent hundreds of hours unwinding the deals and searching for evidence to help my Grandpa and go after the bad guy. In the end, I moved back to Utah because the needs were so great. Ultimately, we got a judgment against the scammer. By then my Grandpa was over 90 and the Parkinson's had taken his once keen intellect. I like to think my Grandpa understood the celebration lunch we threw when we got the appellate victory, but I am probably lying to myself. Regardless, I know we did the right thing for my Grandpa. And doing that, doing the right thing for the person you love, that is the only thing that matters in any caregiving situation.
