Creatively Aging

I follow British affairs through the wonders of the web. No longer do I have to purchase a ticket and endure international air travel to read The Daily Telegraph or the The Times. And it is food for thought how the same event is reflected in the differing news sources.

What caught my eye today is the announcement of the death of Harry Patch. Mr Patch was the last veteran of the British Army who fought in the Great War (World War I). He died early Saturday morning in England at the age of 111. It is truly the passing of an era and that means much (at least to me for I have studied the war, its causes, circumstances, and effects for all of my adult life). But my ear caught different phrases in the obituaries published in the national press of these two countries who “are separated by a common language”. The British press, and any quotations from his fellow residents of the British Isles, mentioned that he died surrounded by his friends and ”carers” (his two sons died before him). But Americans don’t say “carers” we say “caregivers”.

Is there a difference and if so, do we care? My copy of the venerable  Chambers Dictionary gives “a person who cares” as the first definition of a carer and “a person who takes responsibility for another, dependent person” as the second.  That’s interesting. A carer can be someone who is “concerned with…or has affection for” another and that emotion does not have to made manifest through action. Caregiver, on the other hand, is someone who gives care.

Which are you? Which am I? Or which in which circumstance?