Former Valley graduate Anita Dennler Dahlby wrote the book "A Journey to an End: A Daughter Takes Her Father from His Home to Hers, from a Nursing Home to a Funeral Home. (Janell Bradley photo)
Valley grad offers support for coping with aging parents
Janell Bradley
Contributing Writer
Anita Dennler Dahlby says she never planned to be among the adult children caring for their aging parents.
“But when circumstances as abrupt and unwelcome as a tsunami presented themselves, my elderly father came to live with my husband and me,” explained the retired teacher with ties to Elgin.
And though she didn’t intend for her experiences to become a book, it was after fellow members of a writing group read what she had penned that it was suggested her experience might help others going through similar situations.
The result is the book, “A Journey to an End: A Daughter Takes Her Father from His Home to Hers, from a Nursing Home to a Funeral Home.”
Anita’s father, Harold, was living in a condominium in West Union when she realized he should no longer be living independently. However, having always had a somewhat contentious relationship with her dad, she knew offering to have Harold move into the home she and her husband shared in Holmen, Wis., would present challenges.