It was indeed a happy surprise to discover two posts from Accepting the Gift of Caregiving blogsite, specifically about needing respite and help, were referenced in a serious way on another caregiving blog, What to Do about Mama?.

I was humbled and honored seeing the recommendation suggesting others read my site. I loved knowing someone else had sensed the value of the two articles I had written exposing our own needs for support in a very friendly, hopefullly relatable, manner. Others could now become familiar with what might happen without warning in their life—we could encourage and reassure them together.

So many caring for others with all sorts of ailments, disabilities, chronic or acute illnesses or disorders, are so caught up in our own lives, that our own energy hardly allows time to expand our worlds to include new friends, new ideas, new stories, new strategies, that COULD HELP US THROUGH OUR CAREGIVER JOURNEY!

The Accepting the Gift of Caregiving site focuses primarily on spouse-caregiving for loved ones with Alzheimer’s—yet, we know many tasks and emotions overlap, regardless of who we are caring for. We realize, too, that there are many aspects to learn about each perspective of care. We suggest everyone take every opportunity to learn when you can about caregiving…listen, watch and read. You never know when or where it will be needed.

As caregivers, in the early stages, when we really are just learning the caregiver role, we don’t realize how valuable these stories could be. Let me assure you, caregiver stories are worth knowing/reading/hearing, — at the very least, know where to locate them when you need them. Keep a list.

When caregivers move into the middle and later stages of Alzheimer’s, we are so overwhelmed by life coming at us, with so much to learn all at one time, exhaustion sets in and few choose to read or research when we need to sleep!

Then when our caregiving is over, some feel relieved to take a break and get a breath before making decisions for the future.

But in the meantime, a lot of valuable, caregiver-written information is out there to help us. if we only have a few minutes, learn where to find it and glance through it for future referencing. Other caregivers are our best teachers. Keep a list.

So, take a few of those silent moments to poke around and read the stories of other caregivers, find books from meaningful perspectives, write down their location. Find blogs where you relate to the authors, where you can even participate. Learn what it means to be part of that special world of caregivers, where each one is doing the best they can.

Guest Authors have appeared periodically on this blog when I was able to give them and their stories time I felt they were due. Because of lack of time, both theirs and mine, I have not had as many as I would have liked. But the suggestion to readers to keep reading caregiver stories is valuable guidance from the heart.

It is important that we caregivers share our stories, our successes and failures, our good times and not so good times. It is equally as important to read caregiver stories…if you are short on time, read from the perspective you live…a spouse-caregiver, a parent caregiver, a sibling caregiver…each situation has its own unique aspects to learn. Offering helpful information has been the purpose of this blogsite from the start. I am grateful to those who have found my blogsite, who follow it, who have shared it, and found the contents useful in caring for their loved one.

When I was searching, I saw this post, (shown below) I wanted to share it. To let readers know that others share stories and that is how we support one another. I hope when you read these stories, you will think of someone who would benefit and you will share the links…not just mine, here, but any you see that could help another caregiver. I hope Accepting the Gift of Caregiving has helped you learn about caregiving for loved ones with memory loss.

My writing perspective is from a spouse-caregiver, and stories in What to Do about Mama? focus on caring for a parent. What we all have in common are the emotions we experience and the need for support from others. As you know, I say throughout my books and site, “Ask for help. No one knows if we do not ask.” Even the author of the blog below noted that important fact.

This is what I saw! Click image to go to read more about caregiving on Barbara’s site.

Thank you Barbara Matthews, author of book and blog, “What to Do about Mama?”.

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Sharing Blog Posts (c) 2021 Judith Allen Shone

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