I Try To Be A Good Caregiver

I think this is how Cheryl feels most of the time. Hee, hee.

I was thinking (yes, I know that is a dangerous act on my part) about the times I have not been the most gracious person in my life when it comes to Cheryl and some of her problems. My wife, through no fault of her own, has not been the most graceful person in her life. We would be doing something and she would fall down or mis-judge her reach or things of that nature. I would of course get upset, why, I don't know, and would scold her about being clumsy or not paying attention. I, on the other hand, rarely fall down or have the "clumsy" problem so it was hard for me to understand why she was having such a problem. (I hope I am making sense.)

There was one time that she hurt herself really bad and I still tease her about it. She was playing in a softball game, got a hit and while running to first base she tried to slide for some reason. Now the slide just did not happen and she twisted her ankle very, very bad. The teasing part from me comes from telling her no one slides into first base. She, of course, denies she was doing that but the facts speak for themselves.

I have had to apologize so many times to my wife for getting upset over her clumsiness. There were times I would cuss and treat her quite rudely. I think I did it because her falling was something I could not control and I felt helpless at the time. I mean, when she would fall it was like watching a building collapse. The time came when we took her to the doctor for tests and discovered she had Parkinson disease and that all the falling and walking like a drunken sailor was attributed to the disease. So I had some serious repenting to do and have gained a lot of empathy for her situation. I still tease her about walking like a drunken sailor though.

It is amazing how we take some of the little things for granted and have miniscule (hope I spelled that right) empathy for others who have problems we don't. It took a long time for me to wake up to the fact that Cheryl truly did have a problem. She doesn't like to read because she is very dislexic and that bugs me at times 'cause reading has been a blessing and so easy for me.

I am learning to be a better caregiver as I get older. I don't cuss when she falls down, well not much anyway, and I read books for her and put them on tape so she can listen to them. One fourth of July we spent the whole weekend with me reading out loud the Harry Potter book, "Order of The Phoenix". My voice was hoarse when I got done but I loved her so I did it for her. Now ain't I a nice guy?

Guess that is all the back slapping I can do for today. Have a nice day everyone.