Caring for the needs of a loved one is often incredibly rewarding. Knowing that the best care decisions are being made and that the paperwork, insurance claims and many other day-to-day needs of the loved one are being addressed, should help caregivers sleep better at night. But are they sleeping? One of the most challenging […]
A Caregivers Path
A few months ago, I was asked to share my story with a local Caregivers organization. As I was reading it over the weekend, I realized that many of my readers may not know the story of how I became a Caregiver. If you are a Parent/Caregiver, welcome! I am glad to have you along on […]
You Better Lose Yourself
“You better lose yourself in the music, the moment You own it, you better never let it go You only get one shot, do not miss your chance to blow This opportunity comes once in a lifetime” – Eminem (more) So here I am quoting Eminem right? Well I can tell you that this song […]
Caregiving is a Team Effort
Life. We plan for it. We map it out. We work hard to accomplish our goals and meet our obligations. Suddenly, there is a bump in the road and we find ourselves dealing with a situation or set of situations that we could never have anticipated. I found myself in this very situation a few […]
Saving “Amy”
I recently saw the newly released documentary entitled “Amy” which stitches together home video, photographs, interviews and footage from Amy Winehouse’s hyper speed rise to fame and her struggles, successes and obstacles as she tried to navigate her life in the limelight. I cannot get this movie out of my mind. It’s not because of […]
Guest Post: Mental Illness, Parenting and Roller Coasters
That familiar whirling blur of anticipation, worry, hope and fear swirls in my gut. My palms sweat and my heart pounds faster. My mind races through what might happen this time, what might go wrong. I’m nesting again. It feels just like it did twenty-three years ago when I was expecting the birth of my […]
Dear Sons on Mother’s Day
For those of you who have been following my story, you know that the last couple of Mother’s Days have been exceptionally difficult for me due in great part to the choice of my adult children to not have much or any relationship with me. When I finally decided to share this information with my blog […]
Caregivers Guest Post: Crisis in the Rearview
Crisis in the Rearview Guest Post, By Annie Slease “Writers write from what they know.” This has been my mantra for more than twenty years as a middle school English teacher, but I hadn’t ever put it to the test until my older son Jake suffered his first true mental health crisis. As a way of […]
Caregivers Guest Post: Gifts of Caregiving
While the “official” Caregivers in the Spotlight month has concluded, if you are on my newsletter distribution you already know that we are going to continue to spotlight caregivers on this blog and in our Facebook community going forward! I am so excited to be able to make this space for sharing of stories from […]
Caregivers Guest Post: In Her Own Words
In today’s Caregivers in the Spotlight guest post, Brandi Gowan, author of the blog mydaughtersmind.com which chronicles her journey as a caregiver of a young daughter with mental illness, shares some of the challenges of caregiving in her own words. I recently met Brandi through a mutual social media contact and am grateful for the […]
