About

As our population ages and we face concerns about own and our loved ones’ independence and care, we can find practical and important advice in the book, Caregivers and Personal Attendants.  Take Care Books showcases this book as well as editing services to support others who are working with words.

Caregivers and Personal Attendants: How to Find, Hire and Manage the People Who Help You (or Your Loved One), by Alfred H. (Skip) DeGraff offers Skip’s tried-and-true system for hiring, managing, supporting and parting ways with personal care attendants.  Skip was a high level quadriplegic who used a motorized wheelchair after being paralyzed in a diving injury when he was 18.  He went on to obtain several higher degrees which he sagely applied in his successful businesses aimed at supporting the health and independence of people with physical challenges.  Through decades of managing attendants, whom he and his wife, Peggy, hired, Skip learned about needing to find a balance between personal caregiving needs and family health and integrity at home. Skip created a successful model for managing a team of mostly students, whom he and Peggy would train, and who, through seeing Skip’s livelihood, would uphold his independence and success.

Peggy Short (also known in publications as Margaret Short-DeGraff, Ph.D., OT, D.Min.) is an editor, writer, professor and small business owner.  As an academic editor for decades, Peggy honed her skills in copy editing and formatting manuscripts for publication.  She has a canny ability to see the forest for the trees – and the trees for the forest – enabling her to skillfully support students who are organizing their ideas for forthcoming research projects, dissertations and theses.  Known as a sensitive collaborator and advisor, Peggy assists successful and would-be published writers with skillfully crafting their manuscripts for publication. She proofs research papers and offers sage advice for enhancing the quality of others’ writings.  With a Ph.D. in research psychology and a Masters in Occupational Therapy and a Doctor of Ministry, Peggy has a unique background in science and application, in stepping back as well as hands-on care.

Peggy’s small business, Wabi-Ware, offers to individuals and retail stores, hand-made greeting cards, books and other gifts.  Her ability to put together parts into a whole enables her to not only assist writers with organizing their ideas into manageable steps but also making special collages into custom, handmade greeting cards.

The intent of Take Care Books is to offer practical and inspiring books as well as editing services that are aimed at taking care of ourselves and others and our work with words.

Peggy Short, Ph.D.