Taking care of my grandmother was gruelling the last six months or so; but I wouldn’t change anything, either. It was one of the most rewarding experiences of my life.
It’s almost as if you relive their life in thought during those months of caring, and appreciate them even more.
“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.