COVID-19 Made it Clear We Need to Care for Caregivers
April 28, 2021USC
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, life was plenty busy for Jason Trujillo and his family.
He and his wife, Sherrie Jong, had two children, ages 4 and 1. Jong — a civil engineer — was the family’s breadwinner as Trujillo completed his first year at Southwestern Law School in Los Angeles. As the couple raised their family and juggled work and school, Jong’s parents, Engie and Monty, were getting older; 82-year-old Monty especially struggled to see and hear.
When they found out Monty had Alzheimer’s disease, the family knew he needed someone to care for him. That job fell to Trujillo. At first, he resented the stressful and unexpected role. But his mother helped him put things in perspective. “She said, ‘I didn’t raise you to leave an old man that needs help. Take care of this,’” he recalls. “She was 100% right.”