This article first appeared in “The Ridgewood News” and “The Record”

In his book, “A Cup of Tea on the Commode,” Ridgewood native Mark Porro recounts his 3½ years of caring for his 89-year-old mother, Genevieve, at her village home.

Porro was the least likely of Genevieve’s six children to assume charge of her care in 2011. The 54-year-old single man had pursued an “adventurous” career path since graduating from Ridgewood High School in 1975 and Ohio State University in 1980 with a degree in industrial design: Hollywood actor, snack business entrepreneur, and helping with his sister’s Michigan design firm.

Genevieve had moved back home after four years in an assisted care facility. Her dog Zuri had been involved in a biting incident, and she refused to move anywhere else without her pet. Over the next five years, Porro’s nearby siblings supervised a revolving door of visiting and live-in caretakers at the family home while they watched Genevieve morph from a “well-mannered, well-behaved happy-go-lucky mother” into a “not-so-lovable character like Archie Bunker.”

Click here to continue reading. Click here to learn more about Mark Steven Porro.

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