Coping with Aging is a meeting for caregivers who are providing care for aging parents, relatives, and loved ones. The goal of all caregivers is to provide the best possible care while still retaining a life of their own and their sanity. The goal of Coping with Aging is to help caregivers achieve their goals, both for themselves and for their care receivers.

Coping with Aging meets the 2nd Monday of every month at 7:00PM. Mark your calendars for the entire year, as this meeting is NEVER canceled. No reservation is needed and everyone is welcome. These are informal meetings, so come as you are. Although the meeting start at 7, do not skip it if you are late to arrive. Come when you get there and leave when you need to leave. This is the place to meet your peers, others who are caring for ther aging loved ones. Here you learn from them about how they are handling their suituation, what works and what doesn't, get ideas, and share resources and information. This ia a safe place to vent your frustrations and express your grief. Other participants have the feelings that you do. We laugh more than we cry.

Coping with Aging is facilitated by Kay Paggi, a Licensed Professional Counselor and an experienced facilitator for discussion groups for caregivers. When you attend, you gain the benefits of Kay's counseling skills, professionalism, and experiences with older adults. These is a $10 requested fee.

Kay encourages participants to share their experiences, bad and good. Discussions provide a forum for talking with others who understand the experiences of caregiving that cannot be found anywhere else. This is NOT a touchy feely support group. It is a group of caregivers who meet to discuss their experiences.

Directions. The meeting site is the Church of the Epiphany at 421 Custer in Richardson. The easiest way to get there is to exit Central Expressway on Arapaho and go west for one block; the Richardson Civic Center and library will be on the left. The 1st light is Custer. Turn left (south) on Custer; the Civic Center will still be on the left, and you will pass the YMCA on the right, go past the new 1st United Methodist Church on the left, past condos on the right until you arrive at the Church on the right side. If you miss it, Custer dead ends into the service road. (turn around and go back for a block.) Once at the church there are two main buildings. One is obviously the sanctuary; we do not meet there. Come in the other building through the main doors.

There is a sign on the doors that directs you to enter through the glass doors off the patio; ignore this sign. The glass doors are locked when the secretary leaves. I will unlock the main doors. This building has several meeting rooms. Enter and come down the hall; our meeting room is usually in the center room on the right, the one with the fireplace and circular sofa. If we are not in there, we will have signs pointing to our current location.

 “ I want to tell you that I had always been an ‘I don’t need a support group’ person until I went to your sharing and caring group that meets at the Church of the Epiphany in Richardson. I went to a support group for families with loved ones that suffer from mental illness and I found that to be an education group, more than support and caring and NO sharing. I did not go back. Your group is very interactive and much experience is shared by the group as well as from the expert, you. I found your group to be mostly enriching, although hearing about what we may have to look forward to can be quite depressing. Please keep this group going as it is very beneficial…-George”