James Richard Cornell cares for his mother with vascular dementia and built a home in his backyard for her.
Michael Cornell
This interview is based on a conversation with James Richard Cornell, 63, who has been caring for his 87-year-old mom with dementia for over a decade. Cornell built a house on his property for his mom, which has helped them avoid nursing home costs. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.My mom is a pleasure to take care of. She doesn't give you any crap. She does what she needs to do.I've worked in the trades my whole life. I started my first few years doing oil burner service. Then, I got into doing aluminum siding, but I wasn't really happy with myself because I didn't finish school.I went to school to learn about commercial jets and found jobs working on their interiors and mechanics. For 25 years, I've worked across multiple fleet types, and I now do maintenance control full-time. I do want to retire eventually, and I think I will around 67.
My parents separated when I was around 6. My dad was in the military, and my mother wasn't working for quite some time. After they separated, she raised us, playing both the mother and father roles.After a while, she worked as a school bus driver for nearly 30 years, which allowed her to raise three kids with few problems.My mom has dealt with some health issues.There have always been some heart issues in the family. My mother had a heart attack 20 years ago, but it was a milder one. I spent about two weeks with her until she recovered from that. Her brother died of a massive heart attack. I've avoided heart issues, but I've dealt with inflammation and other side effects from a Lyme disease diagnosis I had much earlier in life.
