“The Fifth Season” is an honest, yet poetic, account of a difficult experience: caregiving for an elderly person. An added complication is that the person requiring care both is/isn’t a relative. She is in that unique role: mother in law.
The author, Lisa Ohlen Harris, brings all of herself to this work: her compassion, her irritation, her humor, and most of all, her fine writing skills.
The result is a book which is both easy to read, and worth reading.
I especially recommend this book to people who may some day serve in a caregiving capacity (a growing demographic!) and their relatives. This book helps make clear the kind of help that caregivers need.
This book also opens up a dialogue about difficult questions about end of life care. The decision making process is not as easy as checking the box: die at home. What does that mean? At what point should these decisions be made? How do we support people during this process?
Thank you Lisa, for addressing this important topic with such bravery!