If your parents are alive and well (no matter how annoying), may I suggest you take a moment to feel grateful for the fact that they’re alive and well (no matter how annoying)?
In the 3 years since my mom died, my dad has been on a super crappy health rollercoaster. Nobody wants a ticket on this ride… Knee replacement, hip replacement, heart valve replacement, other hip replacement, colon cancer surgery, and now six months of chemo. A couple of other smaller things in between, but I don’t want this post to be a downer 😜
What’s interesting to me is that the experience of having an ailing parent is similar to that of grieving, in that you don’t know who else has gone through it until you arrive. So many of us are in this life stage, yet it’s not often talked about, or brought out into the open.
It is exhausting – emotionally and physically – and I think we need to normalise that. It sucks for our parents when their health isn’t great, and it sucks for us too. There’s no shame in admitting that.
To all of you who are juggling your own lives on top of doctors appointments and scans and medical aid and gap cover and medication and treatment plans and figuring out next steps… I see you. You’re not alone. One day at a time ❤️
Cute pic of me and my brothers when we were young because dang! How cute were we? And also, this is the other side of the coin: we were looked after for many years, and now it’s our turn.
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