Time Off

This week Betty is visiting Bob's sister so we have some time off. It really sounds awful when I read what I write and hear myself whining about being tired. When we dropped her off we came home and slept, him on the couch and me on the floor. The exhaustion is palpable and we are on our third "free" day still yawning and tired.

So far we have gone out to eat breakfast yesterday and today had a wonderful lunch at one of our favorite Thai restaurants. It was heavenly! I truly appreciated time with my husband not having to worry about anything except deciding upon lunch.

It seems to me that the need to rest is one of the most important aspects of dealing with/caring for someone with memory issues. You always need to be on the ball and ready to enter into their world rather than trying to drag them back to yours because as I read on; http://alzheimersreadingroom.com "you might as well bang your head on the wall" to try to do anything else.

We have been talking about what we need to do for the future. What kind of people can't be the caregivers full-time? Are we awful? How can we deal with it in a loving way? I listen to Bob's cousin talk about BOTH of her parents having health problems and she has them at their home and does so much after working a long day and on week-ends. She is wearing herself out and I am not sure her mother can survive the stress of having Parkinson's and being part of the care team who watches over her husband who has Alzheimer's. I wonder if it would not have been better for them both if they had somehow moved them long ago into some sort of senior housing rather than keeping them in their house. (Not that ANY of that is my business!)

I wonder what will be best for Betty? If she is in her own home she will still be worrying about the care of the home; lawn, pest control...the list goes on. If there were no worries she might even manufacture them! Housing is so darn costly. I am spending my rest time worrying aren't I? LOL! Enough of that! But, do you see how easy it is for me to get wrapped up in all of that mess? Whoa!