How Do You Know If You're A Caregiver?

Years ago, while interviewed by AARP, the reporter asked me, what do you say to those family members who don't realize they are caregivers? Well, the question struck me as funny. So I lapsed into my best Jeff Foxworthy impression.

If you have a professional carpet cleaner on retainer, you might be a caregiver. Well, the reporter started laughing. They said, you should do a bunch of those with Jeff. Well, Jeff and I've been friends for a while.

I called him up and asked what he thought. He said, sure, write them up. Write some jokes up. We'll do it. I said, no, no, no.

These aren't jokes. This is my life. And so we got together, we did this, and the You Might Be a Caregiver spot we did for AARP. It was a PSA we did during National Caregiver Awareness Month. It was a great success.

And here are a few highlights. If you've ever hooked up your wife's wheelchair to your dog just to see if it would work, you might be a caregiver. By the way, I've actually done that.

I have footage. If anyone's ever seriously asked you, baby, have you seen my left leg? You probably are a caregiver.

Jeff did that one to me and just tore me up. If at the grocery store, you're the one asking for a price check on suppositories, you're probably a caregiver. If you can change a dressing while cooking a turkey with dressing, you're probably a caregiver. I can't believe I said this. I said, if a hospital bed has never hampered your love life... Jeff looked over at me. He said, really? I said, dude, she's had 80 surgeries over 30 years. We've spent a lot of time in the hospitals.

And he said, well, there's no use wasting a semi-private room. This is supposed to be a minute for these You're a Caregiver minutes. But those things that Jeff and I did, we had a whole bunch of them. They still keep coming and they just make me crack up.

So thank you for your indulgence. On a good day, caregiving can be a challenge. Keeping a sense of humor remains critical to staying healthy and healthy caregivers make better caregivers. This has been Your Caregiver Minute with Peter Rosenberger, brought to you by Standing with Hope, a ministry for the wounded and those who care for them. There's more information at standingwithhope.com. Say, what would you do if you were a new Christian and you didn't have a Bible?

It's Michael Woolworth, by the way, from Bible League International. And you'd probably say, well, I'd hop in my car. I'd go to a Christian bookstore or have one shipped to me.

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You know, you would pray that someone, anyone would bring you a Bible. And that's exactly the way it is for literally millions of Christians around the world. They're part of our spiritual family. They're new to the faith.

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