All right, let's get to our caregiver tip of the day. Our caregiver tip of the day brought to you by AARP of Tennessee, and they have so many resources for the family caregiver. That's why I love having them involved with the show because they have all types of financial planning tools that you can use on their website. Fraud, which is a huge issue affecting a lot of folks right now, and all kinds of fraud alerts that they have that help you stay safe out of that.
Just enormous. They have a huge push for the family caregiver. And so this is the caregiver tip of the day. And I was going to do something, and I changed it last minute because you know what, this is Valentine's Day.
There you go. And I was thinking about this because I am a part of several online groups for caregivers, and I just kind of watch a lot of the comments. And a lot of folks are taking care of a loved one with dementia and a spouse. And I was looking at some of the comments, and there was just this despairing grief and sorrow and heartache and all these kinds of things because the loved one didn't recognize.
In fact, one lady posted, she said about her husband, he thinks I'm going to try to kill him today. You know, and these are hard things to deal with. And so I thought, Valentine's Day, that's a tough day for a lot of caregivers, because they're taking care of somebody who no longer even remembers them.
I'm going to throw this out there. Don't be afraid to get your own card from your spouse who can no longer get you one. Go ahead and get the card that the love that you all shared warrants.
Pick you out one that says everything that you feel like your love is at its core, whether they can remember that or not. Do that to honor your love together. And also, you know, whatever meal that you guys enjoy having together, have that for yourself as well. Now, she or he may not be able to participate in that. And that's okay, but that doesn't mean that you have to be, you know, go get yourself a box of macaroni and cheese or something. Fix the meal that your relationship warrants.
Get the card that it warrants. And yeah, you may tear up when you do it. But that's okay, because they're not going to be tears of rage and despair at that point.
They'll be genuine tears of grief, which are healthy, but you're still honoring this love that has obviously inspired you to care for this person, even after they no longer remember you. And don't put this demand on yourself to somehow, because you're not perfect at this, that you're not worthy of doing it or whatever, your attendance record is perfect. You keep showing up. And that's what's important. Would you consider that and do that for yourself? And spend some time with it. Spend some time picking out that card of one that really reflects who you are and this love that you've shared.
I know it's going to be a tough day for so many, but it doesn't have to be miserable. And that's our caregiver tip of the day brought to you by AARP of Tennessee. AARP.org slash Tennessee. Please, please look at the resources that are free.
You don't even have to be a member. You go out and just participate, because every resource available to you as a caregiver is required. And friends don't let friends caregiver alone. All right. Hey, this is Hope for the Caregiver. I'm Peter Rosenberger, 800-688-9522. We'll be right back.
Whisper: medium.en / 2024-01-22 01:26:24 / 2024-01-22 01:28:15 / 2