"They were free in moments when they engaged with and responded to their obligations," Holly Peterson.
Harry Thurman wrote of freedom as the ability to deal with the realities of one's situation so as not to be overcome by them. I, and I know many others, sometimes take on too much; and then I can feel overwhelmed by them in addition to the demands of providing care for someone with dementia. There are, in my opinion, two lessons here. One is for me not to take on more than what I want to do and is fun for me. The other lesson is to be very watchful of my attitude, and to choose anew any time I feel encumbered upon. Even in providing care for dementia, it is important to have "escape hatches": ways to provide respite for oneself. Yesterday I provided one of those for myself. I called and we are put on a waiting list for assisted living. There is no plan for us to take the action of actually moving into assisted living right now; I just want to know it is an option should the circumstances arise that call for it.
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