Blogs

Esther Pipoly 12/14/21 Esther Pipoly 12/14/21

Grateful

If 2021 taught me anything, it was to learn to love myself and the world.

Esther Pipoly 5/10/21 Esther Pipoly 5/10/21

Personal Touch

If we learned anything in 2020, it is the fact that the importance and value of human touch are so vital to our physical and mental well-being.

Esther Pipoly 12/31/20 Esther Pipoly 12/31/20

See You Later Alligator! You are in my rearview mirror.

Be the One who can make a difference…a call, a text, and an unexpected moment of gratitude towards a stranger.

Esther Pipoly 11/26/20 Esther Pipoly 11/26/20

2020 ~You know that one friend? The award goes to…

For me, 2020 brought out the best and worst of all of us. We quickly figured out who was in our corner and who we needed to be wary of…. But there is THE one person who is one of my FAVORITE people in the whole wide world who helped me make it through 2020.

Esther Pipoly 11/10/20 Esther Pipoly 11/10/20

Flying SOLO

Life Transition. I sat staring into the eyes of a beautiful woman, who had lost her husband unexpectantly this year. She and her adult daughters were devastated, and I could see myself in her. I spoke in the kindest voice I could offer her and heard myself say ~

Esther Pipoly 8/31/20 Esther Pipoly 8/31/20

Don't Give up Now.

Don’t give up now. For LOLA, I have to admit I have witnessed and listened to families grieve like NEVER before. While some people may take this post as a political message, I say to you this ~ Death is not political.

Esther Pipoly 4/26/20 Esther Pipoly 4/26/20

Meltdowns

Meltdowns were happening before we all had to go home. We would call each other and tell each other how much work we had and how busy we were and how tired we were...

Esther Pipoly 3/3/20 Esther Pipoly 3/3/20

Building Caregiver Resilience

Resilience is defined by the US Air Force as the ability to withstand, recover and grow in the face of stressors and changing demands. Does that sound applicable to the life of a family caregiver?

Family caregivers face every type of stressor imaginable including family conflicts, financial strain, physical and mental health decline. As a result, many caregivers suffer from Caregiver Burnout which is a term used to describe a state of physical, emotional, and mental exhaustion that may be accompanied by a change in attitude -- from positive and caring to negative and unconcerned. In extreme cases caregiver burnout leads to clinical depression. Caregivers suffer from depression at 2 - 3 times the rate of the general population.

Esther Pipoly 2/18/20 Esther Pipoly 2/18/20

Sisters are like waves.

The first memory I have of my sister was of us, going to piano lessons together and when we were done, she would leave minutes before me, my heart panicking, racing as I ran after her running down the street to catch up to her only for her to stop long enough to let me catch up so our mother could see us...walking together home.

It was always like that, when we were young, she was the middle child and I the youngest. She could paint, was a student leader of her class and always knew how to smooth out any situation. As the years went by and I was 16 and pregnant, my sister drove like mad from Kingsville to meet her first nephew and the apple of her eye, Nathan. She would be the BEST aunt ever!

Esther Pipoly 11/4/19 Esther Pipoly 11/4/19

Coming home~

As my daughter and I excitedly set out to Houston for meetings, at the back of our minds was the lingering thought of a delicate pick-up from a funeral home in Katy, Texas. We encountered pounding rain driving into the city; the rain feeling somewhat symbolic- like tears, a heavy release pouring down.