Attention CareGivers

Surviving the Challenge

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Photo by Nathanael Reyes on Unsplash

I’ve written a couple of articles about caregiving:

• Being a Caregiver

• Aging Well No Matter What

However, I want to focus more on supporting people during the draining, stressful time of caring for a loved one - be they a spouse, partner, child, parent, or sibling.

As a counselor, I worked with clients experiencing grief, loss, frustration, resentment, and other related issues. But it wasn’t until my husband, Dan, struggled with dementia for four years and died of COVID that I better understood. As a primary caregiver and a widow, I had different insights about what helped and didn’t.

Articles for Caregivers

I planned to start a new section of the newsletter last January, but I couldn’t do it.

The memories were too raw. Then I found a way. I wrote the articles, but my approach didn’t feel right.

Now I have a path forward. There may be a separate section for caregivers in the future, but I want to start with weekly articles in the newsletter to see how it goes. Is it valuable to others? Can I do it?

The first 11 articles cover the guidelines I decided on - for me - when Dan was at home, at the memory care facility, and now - what worked and what didn’t. After that, I plan to offer tips for self-care and ideas for managing problematic situations.

As usual, I will publish an article every Friday. Then, I will post a second article about caregiving issues, on Wednesday. Because as you know

I want to share what I learned and what I would do differently. If you aren’t a caregiver, feel free to ignore the articles, save them for later, or share them with others who might benefit.

On Another Note:

I’ve always said the newsletter is free - that it allows me to heal by sharing my experience and hopefully helping others. It still is!

However, you will find a new paragraph at the end of each article. It is my way of bringing attention to this horrific and heartbreaking disease.

“If you wanted to contribute to my work, you might consider donating to the Alzheimers Association. This link takes you to their website. The choice is yours.”