Providing care for a loved one can take a significant toll on a family caregiver, both physically and mentally. Despite their best efforts, caregivers often experience feelings of guilt and inadequacy, believing that they could and should be doing more. This burden of caregiver guilt only adds to the already challenging nature of caregiving, making it even more difficult to manage.
The beginning of Nancy and Bob Robinson’s love story has two versions – depending on who you ask. On a relatively unremarkable evening in 1969, 17-year-old Bob and his parents drove by a car on the shoulder with a flat tire. Bob and his father hopped out to help change the tire and get the driver safely on her way.
Some of the greatest love stories are those that defy the odds. Robert Shuman and Chelsie Jackson were both born August 20, 1933 – 13 hours and 70 miles apart. In a nudge toward fate, the universe put them into the world on the same day. The chances of them being born on the same day and meeting and falling in love are next to impossible. But Robert and Chelsie spent their lives making the impossible possible.
As parents and other close relatives grow older, the thing they need most from the people who love them is time. Cards, phone calls, and gifts are all nice, but nothing has a bigger impact than quality time spent together.
Growing up in the Native American culture and having a diverse genetic background, it seemed as if my family had an adage, proverb, or idiom for almost everything we faced in life. One of my dad’s favorites was: “One finger cannot lift a pebble.”
When we think about healthcare choices at end of life, we may already have definite ideas of what our wishes are. The bigger challenge occurs when we are asked to make end-of-life decisions for someone else who can no longer make healthcare decisions for themselves.
