It Takes a Village
I have often thought about how grateful I am that I already loved Lee's parents before their health started declining and their needs increased. Because it's hard to care for people that have a lot of needs. I imagine it would sometimes feel like a sacrifice that I wasn't willing to make if I didn't already love them. Lee's mom has Alzheimer's and Lee's dad is mostly healthy, but his health and cognitive skills are slowing with age. I am touched when I see how sweetly Lee's dad does his best to care for his wife of 59 years. She is almost always unsatisfied, but she doesn't know how great she's got it. I think he loves her more deeply now as her caregiver than he ever took the opportunity to show before. Tonight, Lee's dad shared a story about how when he dropped E off at Relief Society today, "5 or 6 women swarmed around her and swept her away" from him, inviting her to sit by them and then they delivered her back into his...