Taking a Break From Caregiving

Taking a break from caregiving can be a double edged sword, so to speak. In my case, I am at a mountain retreat awaiting the arrival of my children and grandchildren. My oldest grandson is on spring break next week, so the vacation has been scheduled around that time. My son and his wife also have a 3 month old daughter I can't wait to get my hands on! My daughter and granddaughter will arrive later in the week as she is a teacher and their school is not on spring break yet. But we will all be together, enjoying a wonderful time...while great grandma is at home.

While I am physically taking a break from caregiving, my mind is trying to catch up and take a break as well. Yet, my mother is on my mind even though I know she has responsible people nearby and I talk with her daily. I had a few moments before I left where I felt I should take her with me, but several things were against that. The location for one, sleeping arrangements, two, and I needed a break, three.

I'm looking forward to the week ahead and once everyone arrives, surely my mind will store all the joys and happiness in place of the worries about my mother. And throughout the week, when I checkin with her, I can report on the games we're playing, the places we've been, and the smiles on my tiny granddaughter's face. And I'll be sure she knows how much I love her.

More later!

Honor Thy Father and Mother

How do you honor your mother and father? There is a hunger in the human soul that is unfed even by genuine affection. That hunger is for intimacy. Revealing our true selves to others is giving them the highest gift of all. Intimacy, by its nature, conveys trust, respect and caring.

We honor our parents and other relatives by living rich, growing, abundant lives, when we credit them with wanting that for us. When we are strong, when we work through conflicts, when we follow our own dreams with faith and resolve, we are honoring those who produced us. Our happiness, shared, becomes their happiness. Our success, shared, becomes theirs.

Part of honoring our parents is to help them be loving to us on whatever level they are functioning. We know that at their best, they would have given us the moon and the stars. It is up to us to guide the relationship during our final years together. We may be the only ones who can as our parent may no longer have the necessary range of behaviors.

We honor our father and mother by who we are. We cannot eat for them, smile for them, breathe for them or die for them. But at the end we can help give meaning to all that has gone before.