When you were younger, chances are, Father’s Day was a fairly simple affair. Maybe you gifted him a handmade card in elementary school, treated him to a gift certificate at his favorite restaurant as a teen or even plopped a bow on his go-to hard liquor or beer and handed it to him in your early 20s. Fast-forward a few decades, and the holiday might feel and look a bit different. Maybe Dad resides in a senior living community with (or without) a partner or is undergoing cognitive decline and memory loss. Or maybe the relationship feels a bit distant. “Father’s Day doesn’t change — we do,” notes Sharon Egitton, executive director of Vineyard Johns Creek, a senior living community outside Atlanta. “As both dads and their kids get older, Father’s Day celebrations don’t have to change, but might need to be modified a bit.” Amy Cameron O’Rourke, a dedicated care manager and author of “The Fragile Years,” shares a similar sentiment about the day for senior dads: “This is often a time where physical and mental challenges can be occurring, as well as a loss of independence. [Many senior dads] are experiencing grief as they are losing energy and independence.”
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