My friend Bill is a caregiver -- every day -- because he lives with and loves the person he cares for. Every choice he makes must involve and revolve around the person he cares for.
It’s important to understand that Bill also needs the person he monitors and nurtures. Love has tied a knot that binds them.
Bill recently shared on Facebook a meditation from “Daily Comforts for Caregivers” by Pat Samples. Please listen:
Sadness wells up at the strangest times. In a meeting, riding a bus, or shopping in the grocery store — suddenly I am hit by a surge of sorrow. It's not a time or place where I want my feelings to be on exhibit, and I don't know what to do with them.
But nobody objects if you have a runny nose, even in public, so I can hide my crying by letting the tears drain down my sinuses. Or I can step into a restroom and have a private cry. I don't have to hold back my feelings entirely. That's too much work and it kills something in me.
I may not want anyone else at the moment to be aware of my sorrow, but I don't want to suffocate it either. My sadness tells me what I have loved and what I have lost.
Sometimes I choose to share my tears with those around me. By showing them a little of my tender feelings, I keep my heart open, and I help others open theirs, too.
My tears are part of my story as a caregiver, and my story is who I am.
I am in awe of friends like Bill and so grateful for the caregivers in my own family. Thank you Bill for this reminder -- that all those angels who walk among us … well, now and then they, too, need to cry.
I’m Lonny Cain, and that’s my Perspective.
