Blind Plea - Listen Now: Squeezed with Yvette Nicole Brown

Episode Date: August 21, 2024

This week we’re dropping in your feed to tell you about a new Lemonada show, Squeezed with Yvette Nicole Brown. Whether we’re young or old, part of the sandwich generation or child-free, care is universal. In this seven-part series, actress and caregiver Yvette Nicole Brown looks at caregiving over the course of a lifetime, exploring the lives of everyday people, spotlighting the daily dramas, hardships and joys of caregiving across America. So many of us are caught up in the challenges of providing care and love across generations, all while juggling the demands of work and family, navigating a system that wasn’t designed with care and love in mind.  You’re about to hear a clip from the first episode, where Yvette Nicole Brown talks to Stephanie Wittels Wachs, co-founder of Lemonada Media, a mom of two, and a primary caregiver for her dad, who has Parkinson's. On the surface, Stephanie manages her kids’ extracurriculars, visits to her dad's care facility, work meetings, hikes with her husband, and never ending grocery store trips. But on the inside, she’s sinking into quicksand.  To hear more of Squeezed with Yvette Nicole Brown, head to: https://lemonada.lnk.to/SqueezedfdSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Lemonada. Hi, listeners. I'm excited to let you know about Lemonada Media and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's newest podcast, Squeezed. You're about to hear a clip of the first episode of this show. Caregiving in America is hard work, and it's universal. At some point in our lives, we will all need care or provide it. Actor and producer Yvette Nicole Brown knows this firsthand,

as she is the primary caregiver for her dad Omar, who has Alzheimer's. He's a big part of why she's hosting Squeezed in the first place. Each week, she will meet with caregivers across the country who are navigating the caregiving journey at every stage of life and learn about their stories and all of the hard and joyful moments that come with this work. After you hear the clip, search for Squeezed on your podcast app to hear the rest of the episode. You can also find a link in the episode description to take you there.

So Parkinson's is a mother f***er. Same with dementia, baby. Same with dementia. Oh my God. It is... I hate it. Stephanie Whittles Wax is a well-known name around here. Steph co-founded Lemonada Media and hosts the popular show Last Day about all the sad stuff that brings us together.

She's also a mom of two and one of the primary caregivers to her dad, Ellison, who has Parkinson's. Caregiving is, no surprises here, hard work. And it's universal. At some point in each one of our lives, we're gonna need care, or we'll have to take care of someone else.

Did you know that in the US, at least 53 million people provide unpaid care every day? Fifty-three million. And when caregiving is unpaid and unexpected, it can throw us off balance and force us to rethink everything we have going on. Family, friends, work, finances, the medical system, all of it. But caring is also joyful and I should know. I'm Yvette Nicole Brown, writer, producer, actress on screen and even on Broadway for a hot workshop second. I'm also the host of this series, Squeezed. Now you might know me from a little show called Community

where I played busybody Shirley Bennett for five seasons. We're sorry we embarrassed you and looked at your prophylactic equipment, your lifestyle mistakes, or none of our business. Oh thanks Shirley. But what you might not know about me is that I'm a full-time caregiver for my dad, Omar. He has Alzheimer's and he's a big part of why I chose to host this series. In 2012, I was back home in Cleveland visiting my family. We were at my Aunt Mickey's house cooking dinner and my dad was driving to meet us. I remember him calling me saying, Yvette, I don't know where I am or where I'm going.

He sounded really confused. Dad had gotten lost on the way over even though he had been making that same drive for decades. I knew something was going on with him that he couldn't control. So I told myself that as soon as I got a break from community, I was gonna go home and get my dad. About a year later after community's cancellation, well, exactly three days after community's cancellation, I found myself back in Cleveland packing up his apartment to move him out to Los Angeles to live with me.

I'll never forget how weary and frail and small he looked when I first got there. His hair and beard were so overgrown, he looked like Father Time from the old Rankin & Bass Christmas cartoons Seeing him like that broke my heart, but I knew it was gonna get better. I recently celebrated 10 years of looking after my dad full-time I say celebrated because it's truly been a gift to be able to be there for him the way he was for me when I was a kid And we have fun. But that doesn't mean that I don't have those moments where I wanna wrap myself up in a big blanket,

put on my bonnet for the night, and be responsible for absolutely no one else for five days at the very least. In this series, I'll be speaking with caregivers across the country, like me and you or future you, about the dramatic and also very normal moments we experience every day while caring for our loved ones.

How do I love this as much as I do and give it the passion that I want to give it while still not neglecting the rest of my life? My mom doesn't need me to be running around and creating all the things. My mom actually needs me to be sitting next to her and holding her hand. Daddy, I'm with you!

I'm with you too! There are jokes, there is laughter, there's beauty, there's joy, there's also sadness and tears, but there's also like awe. There's always a light at the end of the tunnel. But we hope it's not an oncoming train. No, I know it's not an oncoming train. This is Squeezed. I'm it's not an oncoming train. This is Squeezed. I'm your host Yvette Nicole Brown.

Episode 1. Meet Steph. Okay, what did we just do? We hiked. How far? 4,500 steps. Really not that consequential. Are we out of breath? Of course. So middle-aged.

What did you start taking a week ago, Mike? A cholesterol med. Yeah, and now I'm all backed up. You want the real shit? I'll give you it. Those people, gasping for breath, are Steph and her husband Mike, a graphic designer who just recently became a stay-at-home dad. Steph and Mike are in their 40s and have two kids, Iris, 10, and Harry, 6. They live in a picturesque small town on the central coast of California with a lot going

for it, like a monarch butterfly sanctuary and a park called Lovers Point. Steph's mom and dad, Mo and Ellison, live there too, and they all spend a whole lot of time together. On any night of the week, Mo's hanging out at Steph's house, playing Legos with Harry, helping Iris organize her room for the hundredth time, or prepping dinner. What are you guys making? Pancakes.

The cinnamon. Dinner. Dinner. It's dinner. It's dinner time for that. Breakfast for dinner. How many pancakes are you gonna make? It's dinner. It's dinner time for that. And there are pancakes. Breakfast for dinner. How many pancakes are you going to make?

Five. Or fourteen. Yeah. Or fourteen. Same, same. You can never have too many pancakes. You can never. That's what I always say.

It depends on how big you want them to be, too. Smell's good. Gooey and plump. Gooey and plump? But because of Ellison's Parkinson's, he isn't able to be as present in those everyday moments. Ellison, who's 81, has been living in a nearby nursing home for the past two years. Nearby as in, Steph can wade to the building from her driveway.

Okay, let's go in and see Papa. Look who is showered and sitting in a chair! It's like a real person. Well your granddaughter came to share something with you. Oh hi baby how are you? I'm good. You look wonderful. Thank you. You're welcome. I have a surprise for you. I love surprises.

What do you got there for me, sweetie?