Last Updated: October 14, 2025
Why I Created The Complete Guide to AI Technology for Aging in Place
When Love Pulls You in Different Directions
I created this guide because families like yours shouldn’t have to reinvent the wheel during already stressful times. My personal journey through the maze of aging-in-place technology provides a roadmap for your own decisions ahead. Your trust means everything as we navigate these important choices together.
So…who is Carolyn A. Best? Let me tell you a little about myself…
Sometimes I find myself reflecting on how I might make a small difference in this world. With everything happening around us, I wonder what meaningful contribution I can offer – even if it’s just brightening the lives of the people I care about most before my time on this earth comes to an end.
I know I can’t fix all the world’s problems, but I often think about what small acts of kindness or positive changes I could make that would truly matter to those closest to me?
As I ponder this question, I believe the answer lies not in grand worldly gestures but in the quiet devotion that shapes my mornings. My mornings begin with caring for my adult disabled son who depends on me completely for all his daily needs. Phone calls to my sister in Delaware end up the same way they have the last three times. She tells me the same story about her neighbor’s dog that she shared before, completely unaware she was repeating herself. As I gently redirect our conversation, a familiar knot tightens in my stomach. At 85, my oldest sister was showing unmistakable signs that time was claiming bits of her memory, piece by precious piece.
This is my reality – stretched between two people I love deeply. My sister, three hours away in Delaware, gradually needing more support with no one stepping forward to provide it. And here at home in New York, my son whose fragile health demands my constant presence. Both needing me, in different ways, with the same intensity.
I’m no spring chicken myself, though I work hard to stay healthy and active. Some days, I find myself laughing at the irony – I’m the youngest of thirteen children my mother raised, yet somehow I’ve become the caregiver for so many. My mother showed me what strength looks like, and now I’m trying to honor her example by finding solutions where others see only impossible choices.
The truth is, technology became my lifeline to solving my caregiver dilemma not because I’m particularly tech-savvy, but because necessity forced me to find another way. When you can’t physically be in two places at once, you get creative. You search for answers. You build systems where none existed before.
One night after talking with my sister, I sat at my kitchen table looking at brochures and contemplating which assisted living facility I thought would be helpful. I knew she’d resist this idea, feeling the weight of impossible choices. I remembered how fiercely my mother had fought to stay in her own home until the end. I thought about the look in my son’s eyes whenever our routine changed even slightly…I felt helpless!
And somewhere in that moment of feeling completely overwhelmed, a different kind of question formed after seeing an ad pop up on my phone. It was about this new technology…AI! With the surge of this new AI technology that seems to be everyone’s focus nowadays, so I thought…what if this technology could bridge these gaps? What if the right tools could extend my reach without requiring me to leave my son or uproot my sister?
That question became my obsession, my research project, and eventually, my purpose. The solutions I discovered didn’t just help my family – they transformed our lives. And that’s when I knew I couldn’t keep this knowledge to myself. Not when so many families are facing the exact same impossible choices I once did.
Over the past 20 years, I’ve cared for adults with autism, Down syndrome, and cerebral palsy. I’ve learned what works, what doesn’t, and most importantly, how to maintain dignity and independence while still providing essential support. This isn’t just theory for me—it’s my daily reality.
I know I’m not alone in experiencing this dilemma – far from it. Millions of Americans find themselves in this exact same position: caring for aging parents or relatives while simultaneously caring for your own family or children with special needs. This situation even has a name – they call it the “sandwich generation” because we’re sandwiched between caring for two different generations at the same time.
If you’re reading this and juggling responsibilities for both older and younger family members, you’re part of this sandwich generation too. It’s that feeling of being pulled in multiple directions, trying to meet everyone’s needs while somehow maintaining your own health and well-being.
You’re not alone in feeling overwhelmed or searching for better solutions. This is exactly why I’ve become so passionate about finding technology that can help us all navigate these complex caregiving responsibilities more effectively.
That’s why I created “The Complete Guide to AI Technology for Aging in Place.” Not as some theoretical exercise, but as a practical resource born from necessity.
You might be reading this because you’re probably facing your own version of this challenge right now. Maybe you’re trying to help your parents stay safely in their home. Maybe you’re balancing caregiving responsibilities while keeping your own life on track. Whatever it is that brought you here, know that you’re not alone on this journey.
Let’s explore these solutions together, with both hope for what technology can do to enhance our situation and clear eyes about what only the human connection can provide.
But first I urge you to download a copy of my ebook entitled: “Technology That Actually Helps: A Down-to-Earth Guide for Aging in Place.” I pulled together some great tips for getting started learning all about AI Technology that helped me enormously! I know you will find it helpful because it will make you think about things you may have never thought about before. Try it. I know you’ll find it quite the eye opener! ????