“It’s almost as if you relive their life in thought during those months of caring, and appreciate them even more.”
It is amazing the amount of information that is passed down during those nightly chats when caring for a elderly relative. As I said, I wouldn’t change a thing and wouldn’t exchange that experience for anything.
The day before she passed away, I rolled Mom in her wheelchair out onto the deck so she could look at her flowers. She went over one more time which plant came from where (the fig bush from my dad’s sister, etc), so I had that sense of the roots and heritage of my family to take forward. (I also made sure I got a rooting from the fig bush before we sold the place).
It is a shame the author of this piece will never experience those family connections that are a bridge from the past and a path to the future.
My grandmother was almost 95 when she died; a lot of history and experience to share :-)
After my father-in-law died, we never left my mother-in-law alone overnight, even once, for the next 3 years until she, too, passed away. I have never regretted a single time my wife had to spend the night with her mother. It was just her and her sister who took care of their mother. We even moved closer to make it possible. I can’t even describe how our family has been so blessed as a result. Twenty years later we’re still reaping the blessings. My in-laws were wonderful people and I was so blessed to have them. I miss them still.