Thanks to Mom, I’d learned to smile, even when it isn’t easy. Thanks to Mom, I was still smiling now.
—excerpt from Living Is for Living: A Caregiver’s Story
Still Smiling : )
What Next? (dropping our youngest off at college)
Earnest 18-year-old you with me in your heart, asks me straight up “What next?”
You don’t want me to miss out on my life making sure that she doesn’t miss out on hers.
“I’m not sure,” I admit – I tell you the truth, cuz I value your two cents, and you’d see through anything else.
“I’m taking it a day at a time, trying to draw out this phase, trusting I’ll know when it’s time for a change.
Seriously, how lucky am I, that in the midst of your world, you see me sitting here, and give me just what I need.
Although I’m still not sure what is next, I promise to take care of me the best I can, in the mix.
All I ask is you do the same…What’s next for you?
Great things, I have no doubt – and I will cheer your every step.
—excerpt from Living Is for Living: A Caregiver’s Story
Boomerang (and the almost empty nest)
I never expected that our eldest would come home to live between college and graduate school. I was going to miss her and l looked forward to the next time she’d land back home, whatever the duration.
—excerpt from Living Is for Living: A Caregiver’s Story
Fountain of Youth – hanging out with our Millennial kids and their Millennial friends
I knew I’d miss our Millennial kids when they went away to school; it hit me now, just how much I’d miss their Millennial friends as they set out on their next chapters too.
—excerpt from Living Is for Living: A Caregiver’s Story
Our Middle
Not that he has to, still, it’s a fact, he brings balance to our family. Thinking of him reminds baby-of-the-family me to step back, take a deep breath, and calm myself – to be less tornado and more glue.
—excerpt from Living Is for Living: A Caregiver’s Story
“Beast Mode” Time
Hospitalized again, Mom being evaluated for another intestinal ailment, with enough blood loss to warrant a transfusion, it was time to gear up again.
—excerpt from Living Is for Living: A Caregiver’s Story
Standing by Me
When we danced as newlyweds to “Stand by Me,” I didn’t know exactly what that would mean, only that we’d have ups and downs and I hoped he’d be at my side through both. The words comforted me now as they had then, and I was ever grateful.
—excerpt from Living Is for Living: A Caregiver’s Story
Summer in Wisconsin ain’t too shabby either!
Brotherly Love on Mom’s Birthday
Of all the things I could give Mom for her birthday, the very best would be the promise to always try to work things out with my bros. Mom cherished each one of us, in different ways, and having us all in her life, in the ways that we could be, not only made my role as primary caregiver doable, it also helped to make her life, at 85 and with dementia, complete.
—excerpt from Living Is for Living: A Caregiver’s Story
Triple Salchow – enough is enough
As my spouse put it when I fretted: “getting your Mom two weeks in Maine is like completing a triple salchow – that’s something to feel good about.”
—excerpt from Living Is for Living: A Caregiver’s Story
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
- Next Page »
