Hello all,
It's Anne-Marie, one of your AgingCare writers. First of all, on behalf of your AC team, thank you for being a part of our thriving community!
I'm hoping to get your perspectives on a conversation I recently had with a caregiver while I was interviewing her for a story.
During our discussion, she mentioned that one of the hardest things about caregiving was the feeling that she was "just a caregiver." She was so consumed with caregiving that she felt defined by her role and couldn't see herself as anything else.
Now this woman loves to write and, when her schedule permits, she works on what she hopes will one day be a published romance novel. But if you were to ask her if she was a writer, she would say, 'no.'
She's also a mother, a wife, an aunt, a mentor, a friend...the list goes on.
It seems like this would be a common feeling for caregivers, and a topic that needs to be addressed.
Do any of you out there in the AC community feel this way as well--are you defined by your status as a caregiver?
What else are you? A scrapbooker, a volunteer, a lawyer, an activist, a pet owner?
What advice would you give to someone who find it difficult to see past their position as a caregiver?
Thanks!
I am a highly talented, highly intelligent, financially distressed caregiver. I can't really plan for the future because the present is ill-defined, concerned as it is with the vagaries of caregiving. It's not just the health issues, as you must know, but also the issues arising from the horrible way this country manages health care. I blame the health insurance companies for most of this. But that's another topic...