November is National Family Caregiver Month. Governor Cox has also declared November as Family Caregivers Month in Utah. Are you a family caregiver?
Guest Writers Blog
This blog presents the ideas and creative thinking of some of Utah's talented older adult writers. Their submissions are to inform and entertain, not to present policy or opinion positions of the Utah Commission on Aging. Enjoy.
Almost everyone wants to “age in place,” or in their own homes. They also typically say that they don’t want to be a burden on their children, and yet they insist that they not be moved to one of their homes or to an assisted living facility.
When Abraham Lincoln laughed at something during the Civil War, he is rumored to have been criticized for it, and in response he said, “If I didn’t laugh, I would surely cry.” Those of you who are caregivers, either professionally or for a loved one, know that can be true of us, too. If we only see the serious side of things, what is happening can sometimes seem unbearable.
I wasn’t with him when my husband, Dennis, passed away at 12:10 a.m. on May 2, 2021. I got the news on my cell phone. I heard about my father’s passing in the same way, so I knew what I had to do. I dressed quickly and drove to the memory care facility where he had been for only eight days.