Taking Care of Asta

When taking care of Asta proved too much for Elsa to handle, Asta, a few months shy of her 89th birthday, moved to live out her days in Southern California with Suey and her husband, Tony.

Taking Care of Asta is a collection of Suey's diary entries over the three-and-a-half years her mother lived in their home. While Suey labored to satisfy her frail, charismatic, possessive and critical mother, Elsa campaigned, from beginning to devastating end, to drag their mother back to New York.

Costello writes under a pen name so as not to embarrass the family with her disclosures. Her intended audience includes caregiving daughters and sons, their extended families, and students of social work, ethics and family studies. Taking Care of Asta delivers, on a silver tray, essential food for thought for families embarking on, or professionals working in, eldercare.