Caring for the Caregiver - Amy Coupal

When my 90-year-old mother-in-law moved into our home earlier this year, caregiving became deeply personal. Seeing the stairs, stubborn jar lids, fear of falling and loss of independence through her eyes changed how I understood aging, dignity and love—and inspired this conversation. Millions of people in the middle of their own lives suddenly become caregivers. Most arrive untrained, unprepared and too often unsupported, yet they keep showing up because love asks them to. Few understand that journey more deeply than Amy Coupal, CEO of the Ontario Caregiver Organization. As a child, Amy helped care for her brother, who lived with cerebral palsy. Years later, she walked beside her mother through cancer and palliative care. Today, she helps her father navigate life in his late eighties, holding their ordinary moments close because she knows their time together is not unlimited. Amy gives voice to the exhaustion, guilt, anticipatory grief and invisible mental load carried by caregivers. Leanne Kaufman, President and CEO of RBC Royal Trust, then explains how honest conversations and thoughtful planning can answer some of caregiving's hardest questions before a crisis makes them urgent. This is a deeply personal story—but it is also one that may profoundly affect any of us as our lives, and the lives of those we love, unfold.