ProJo Columnist and Long-Time Caregiver Gives Inspiring Talks: “Many Have Called Theirs ‘A Love Story:’ Paul Wesley Gates and Colleen Kelly Mellor Colleen Kelly Mellor was sole Caregiver to her husband, diagnosed with Alzheimer’s for 13+ years, but when she knew she could no longer do his 24/7 care, she sought out a residential place…
I needed my hair done for a major book presentation and sought my long time hair stylist who’s seen me through many events (weddings, etc.) Problem? Donna Simonelli (her photo’s on the right) would be on vacation in Costa Rica. So, she offered her friend/stylist Christine Corio DiBenedetto, whom I also knew, to stand in…
David Quiroa, Exec. Director of Cranston Dept of Senior Services says: “On Tuesday, September 24th in collaboration with the Cranston Public Library and Blue Cross Blue Shield of R.I. we were honored to host a local author, Colleen Kelly Mellor. I have to say that this presentation by Ms. Mellor has been by far the most…
One fairly long (over a year) Caregiver stint for a loved one and the family assets could all go….
Come to my informative talk and be ready for the role you’ll probably take on, as Caregiver, in your lifetime.
It’s a rapacious predator who has taken far too many of my family. Just in the past 9 months, my two brothers passed, due to this illness. John Jr., at the age of 79, passed last August and Peter, 82, died more recently. John was buried on the Cape one month ago and Pete is…
When one is younger, she (I give the preference to “she” because I can’t speak for men) doesn’t really consider memory, because she doesn’t have many memories in her cognitive vault. She’ll build them over a lifetime, with some being wonderful and some (hopefully not too many) painful. My friend, Jackie Damian, once spoke about…
It was as still as could be in Berry Cemetery (yes, someone knew that name would get a reaction), off a dirt road in Denmark, Maine, where I’d gone this past Saturday, in June, to be part of the funeral assembly for my latest cousin who’d gone the route of Alzheimer’s. The sound of the…
Mark Patinkin, a top journalist at Rhode Island’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Providence Journal, interviewed me and wrote up Paul’s and my story about our wedding this past December 16, 2023. He found our story intriguing—the kind in which others would be interested. We were 83 and 78 years of age and we’d been together in an…
I Begin New Life as an Az Advocate At one time, I considered becoming a lawyer. Why? I love advocating for people wronged by others…the system…inadequacies of the law, etc. But, earlier in my life, I couldn’t invest in the time requirements to realize that goal, since I was a single working mom. So, my…
