A Fashionista's Guide to Care Giving

"A Fashionista's Guide to Care Giving"
Y.R. Raven, aka "Raven", former, fashion model (Marimekko, Bogner, Giorgio St. Angelo, Karl Lagerfeld), Broadway show actress/dancer (Bob Fossee, Gower Champion, Tommy Tune, Juan Carlo Esposito, Ron Howard, Meatloaf), and TV talk show host, has been a caregiver for over fifteen years to her husband, William E. Shelton, Jr., first African-American to manage a world class tennis player, Andre Agassi. A third generation New Yorker, and a graduate of the Dalton School and Sarah Lawrence College, her upcoming book, "A Fashionista's Guide to Care Giving," chronicles her fifteen years of care giving (at one point caring for both her mother and her husband in two different cities).
When both her husband and then her mother were stricken with cancer, within months of each other, one in New York City and the other in Alexandria, Virginia, she fell back on her experience in TV Production and Fashion, and pretended that she was coordinating two shows in two different cities. She'd often created Production Books, normally used to produce shows and events. She used this same format to create a Production Book for Caregivers. For example, her Production Book for Caregivers covers, instead of rent studio space, contact agencies, hire models, it lists contact hospitals, find rehab centers, hire lawyers. It is humorous, light, and an easy read since the one thing care givers do not have is time. It's filled with practical how to tips and action lists, as well as tips on how to maintain beauty, wellness, and tranquility in your life, indeed have a life, while being a full time caregiver. This blog is the foundation of her upcoming book, A Fashionista's Guide to Care Giving. Since we may all become caregivers, whether we're ready or not, her first blog is titled "Thrust into Care Giving". It starts on February 1, 2011 and is dedicated to her mom and husband. Come along for the journey.