CAREGIVER'S GRIEF

CAREGIVER’S GRIEF:

On top of losing your loved one that you so lovingly took care of during their illness or aging, you experience another loss...you just lost your job.  While you may also feel a sense of relief that they are no longer suffering, you finally have the time to realize how much time, energy and responsibility went with caregiving for them.  You stepped up to the plate and did whatever was needed to be done to take care of your loved one.  A caregiver’s responsibilities are endless: preparing meals, picking up prescriptions, going to medical appointments, providing encouragement, updating family and friends, bathing, wound care...the list goes on.  But after your loved one is gone, you come to realize this enormous blank space of time that was filled with all the caregiving needs you undertook to take care of them.  That empty space of time you blocked out in your life to see to their physical, emotional, psychological, and spiritual needs speaks to your endless giving which remains an unspoken tribute to your strength of spirit.  You were their bridge that helped them get through to the very end of this life.

Now the calendar seems so completely empty.  Why?  Because you put your life aside.  You took on the role of caregiver.  You did whatever you could to make their living better.  You gave all of yourself in hopes that whatever time they had left was the best life for them.  Your selfless acts of caregiving gave whatever time your loved one had left to be the most meaningful and loving journey to the very end.  

So now it’s time for YOU.  Get rid of any guilt or regrets that pervade your thoughts.  You did what needed to be done.  Invest that time and energy and selflessness back into YOU to refill your tank and to take care of your own health and wellbeing.  Start a to do list for YOU.  Fill up your calendar with events that will engage your interests and ensure you have some fun too.  Life can’t be all about being serious.  Your loved one would want that for you.  God wants that for you.  Both God and your loved one would want you to take this time to release yourself from all those caregiving responsibilities – to relax, be refreshed, and to be rejuvenated – to be restored back to the one and only YOU.  

“He leads me beside still waters, He restores my soul.”  Psalm 23:1b

For more information visit https://www.chaplainmary.net/
Or check out my book:

https://www.amazon.com/Skirting-Thin-Veil-Meaningful-Life-Changing

Photo by Chaplain Mary

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