Locations of remorse and homelands of resilience: Notes on grief and senseof loss of place of Latino and Irish-American caregivers of demented elders

In this essay, based on qualitative research with Latino and Irish-American caregivers of demented elders, we argue that spatially and culturally cons tituted definitions of personhood, the moral life, and justice shape percep tions of normative aging, the agency of the demented persons and their plac e in the community, the appropriate care of the aged and demented, as well as partially determine the concrete resources which will be available to el ders and their families. We review how ties to homelands and neighborhood i nstitutions act as mediators and shapers of anticipatory grief, caregiver b urdens, and caregiver resources, serving as a buffer against exhaustion and despair for some families (primarily the Irish-American sample), and as an additional site of loss or stress for others (primarily the Latino sample) .