Dedicated to Gramma Peggy ~ How missed you are. ~ Dana
ACL caregivers
“Caregiving is known as the act of providing unpaid assistance and support to family member or friends who are in need. The care may be for the betterment of their physical, psychological, or both. “
November is National Caregiving Month as it honors the many of you that provide care or have provided care for those who are in need, as it is truly a selfless act of kindness that will change your outlook on life forever!
national family caregivers month
I don’t need a definition of Caregiving to provide me with an understanding of what it is, and my guess is, most of my readers do not either.
The shame of it is, the circle of life has a way of presenting difficult problems and challenges which do not often have tidy solutions.
It is never easy to watch someone you love be in need of help but to me stepping in just feels right.
As you struggle watching the one you love suffer through pain and endless Dr. appointments you can’t help but be drawn into the plight, and give more of yourself as you want to do everything and anything you can to make them comfortable.
Perhaps it is a shopping trip to pick up groceries, or just to pick up a pair of sweatpants that will make them warm and comfortable, it is never a large gesture, rather the act of kindness that goes the longer mile.
In my life, sadness struck on my birthday, as my Mother-in-law, someone whom I was very close with passed away.
We spent a good amount of time together, and my kids called Gramma on a regular basis to keep her up-to-date on their lives and of course to complain about me (lol)
Often we would pick up a few items and drop them off, or make sure that Gramma had a phone call, nothing fancy just us being us.
For a few years she had been sick, we carried on in this manner, but the last 6 months had clearly been the most upsetting months.
Before all the real hard-core care came (hospitalization, and homecare) caregiving had a whole other meaning and I never considered it ‘caregiving’ rather devotion to a person who had meant so much to me in my lifetime.
My care and efforts were always there because she was important in my world and I wanted to show her that I cared.
I still remember our last trip out that was to Target. My boys and I took her out, and she could not make it through the store so we placed her in a wheelchair.
The boys pushed her around proudly in the store and suddenly my Mother-in-law was parked, in front of a pole and the boys were gone.
They had become little kids again (which they were only 8 and 11) and they dashed down the toy aisle.
I was alarmed that my Mother-in-law was left alone, but she could not stop laughing nor could I as it was just funny, like an abandoned ship they left her parked by a pole and then just as quickly as they disappeared, they re-appeared.
Soon enough they returned and we headed out of the store, never knowing that would be our last fun day out.
I will forever cherish that day, our time and how happy my kids were to be with their Gramma as she truly was a gem.
Now that I have been presented the opportunity to spread that word about National Family Caregiver Month I realize that everything I was feeling has been felt and accentuated by others who have had the same set of circumstances.
You faced illnesses that were going to advance and be out of our control, but if you could at least provide kindness, time with Gramma, shopping trips and occasional Dr. appointment trips you have met caregiving.
November is National Caregiving Month and sometimes it is better to talk about what you are feeling rather than to hold it in and you can share your caregiving experiences.
Across the country over 42 million people, primarily women between the ages 40 – 60 are faced with the challenge of providing care to their older family members and friends each and every day.
The work that each caregiver (family member, assistant, friend, etc) provides is difficult and important.
The smile that you get from the person you are caring for is reward enough to feel like the sun is shining on your soul!
This is a sponsored post from One2One Network. All opinions are my own.
