“The reality is that you will grieve forever. You will not ‘get over’ the loss of a loved one; you will learn to live with it. You will heal and you will rebuild yourself around the loss you have suffered. You will be whole again but you will never be the same. Nor should you be the same nor would you want to.” — Elisabeth Kubler-Ross
"Care taking" or "taking care" are odd phrases You can't "take" care from someone, but you can certainly "give" care Or is it the person who is "taking care" from the "caregiver"? Odd, isn't it? To use the words "give" and "take" in the same way. He wants to "take care" of himself, but cannot. I want to "give care" to him and do so willingly and lovingly as his "caregiver "and his "caretaker". Then there is the phrase "look after". Again...what an odd phrase. Am I "looking after" Paul? I was "looking before" at Paul, so what does it mean to look "after?" Does that suggest that he is gone? I really am asking myself these questions. The English language is so unusual sometimes. At any rate, I will "look after", "give care", "take care", "mind" (uh, oh, there's another one), and "tend" my husband's every need because he is the love of my life and I would walk to the end of the earth with him.
I am a theater educator/performer who was happily married to a wonderful retired music teacher/performer. We had recently retired to Cape Cod where we were involved in both music and theater until my husband was diagnosed with Stage 4 Poorly-differentiated Thyroid Cancer which rocked our world and that of our family. Cancer took his life on November 12, 2019. This blog is to share what I have been going through as my husband's caretaker and how Cancer affected the everyday world in which we lived. My hope is to share with others who have gone through similar circumstances so we can help each other through the process. After all, we are all connected in one way or another.
View all posts by Lynne J
Cancer Wife 