I recently saw this quote:
How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives. ~ Annie Dillard
Oh, geez, I thought. Really?
My immediate thought: I spend my days doing things I don’t want to do so someday I can do what I want.
Is this really my life?
You plow through the days, doing your best to stay positive, strong, smiling.
But, some days, well, you just find yourself wishing for a pink slip. If only you could just walk away from your caregiving role, you think, life would be so much better. And, worse, the wish to walk weighs heavily on your heart. [...]
Continue reading about Tell Us: When Do You Wish for a Pink Slip?
It’s full of surprises, this caregiving ride. We’ve created a list of six biggest drops (myths) on the caregiving roller coaster.
1. The government has programs, like Medicare, that will off-set the costs of care.
Sure, Medicare exists but its benefits for long-term care pay only in the short-term. And, Medicaid helps those whose low-income qualifies them [...]
Dear Denise,
First of all, thank you for your blog. I have found it very enlightening and uplifting during this hard time. My father was recently placed in the local VA Home – without my knowledge. I live in the same town as my parents, who have been married for 50 years.
My mother came to me and [...]
Continue reading about Ask Denise: Why Wouldn’t She Just Tell Me?
About five years ago, I felt I lived under dark clouds. I had little money, so lived off cooked pasta flavored by Miracle Whip. Or, Doritos covered with melted shredded cheddar cheese. My mom gave me toilet paper. (You can read more what led to my dark days here.)
I did all I could to run from under the clouds, [...]
Continue reading about Sometimes, We Can’t Move the Clouds But We Can Shift the Sun
Do you live in the mistakes of yesterday?
It’s okay that something went wrong yesterday or last week or last year or last decade. We are imperfect beings, meant to live imperfect lives.
Mistakes of yesterday only become problems when they cloud our opportunities of today. Don’t let yesterday’s mistakes rob you of today’s blessings.
Let go of [...]
Image by cmefish via Flickr
When I’m in a good mood, it’s amazing how many others feel as grateful and happy as me.
When I’m in foul mood, it’s disturbing how many feel as crappy and mean as me. All these crabby and mean people have it in for me, too. I just know it.
Coincidence?
I don’t think [...]
Dear Denise,
I care for my mam; she has been a caregiver since her teens and has continued to care for the elderly, whilst bringing up six children. This means that she never acknowledges the fact that she needs help, always insisting she’ll be alright and doesn’t want to burden anyone, so much so that I’ve [...]
Dear Denise:
We haven’t has a personal computer for very long here at our home so I am very new to reaching out to someone I don’t know. But the tears are streaming down my face and I can’t see the keyboard very well, but I’ll give this a try.
I am 53 and my husband is [...]
Today I had many feelings of frustration. Frustration at my husband’s disease. Frustration at my husband for not doing things I think he could do to fight off the speed of the progress of this disease. Mixed with these feelings was a little cabin fever again and feelings of guilt for having feelings of frustration.
Tonight [...]
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