"You can make this stuff up, but in our marriage, you don't have to."

What do you do when your 96-year-old mother-in-law gets stuck on the sofa and a neighbor has to call the rescue squad? Or when your own 91-year-old mother decides to give up underpants?

If you are Charlotte Johnson Jones, first you go to the kitchen and eat every cookie, buttery snack, and piece of chocolate you can get your hands on. Then you sit down and write.

"Eldercare Is Making Me Fat" is a set of tales about the challenges Jones and her husband, Herman, have faced as they try to manage the health and affairs of...