After 3,548 baseball games in the outfield and from the dugout, baseball player and manager Lou Piniella announced Sunday he would retire from the Chicago Cubs to care for his 90-year-old mother in Florida.
“I cried a little bit after the game. You get emotional. I’m sorry, I’m not trying to be,” the Chicago Cubs manager said Sunday, his eyes tearing up again and his voice cracking.
Piniella is certainly not the only boomer to answer the call of an aging parent. The numbers of people like Piniella are rapidly rising. According to the Family Caregiving Alliance, unpaid family caregivers will likely be the largest source of long-term care services in the U.S. By 2050, 37 million people will be the primary caregiver for an aging relative — an increase of 85% from 2000.
The 66-year-old Piniella announced before the Cubs-Atlanta game that he was retiring immediately after it was over and planned to spend more time with his ailing mother, according to the Associated Press. Lou is lucky. He is in a financial position to retire and be with his mom. He can also afford to pay for homecare.
“My mom needs me home and that’s where I’m going,” Piniella said.
Piniella recently said he planned to retire at the end of the season. But he missed four games in August to be with his mom in Florida — and decided Sunday that his divided attention wasn’t helping anyone. Although Pinella could afford to hire a private homecare company or a caregiver, he decided to
Engage As You Age provides the social interaction and intellectual stimulation to supplement, complement and diversify the time, energy and emotion of primary family caregivers. While we commend Piniella for prioritizing his mother’s needs, even he — with his impressive endurance — needs a break sometimes.
