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• Connecting more deeply or reconnecting with the loved one;
• Learning compassion;
• Finding personal fortitude and empowerment;
• Enhancing one’s resourcefulness and problem-solving abilities;
• Learning that daunting challenges are surmountable.
A heightened awareness of one’s own mortality, and questions about spirit and of life’s meaning, also visit the caregiver. It’s not selfish to consider these things while caring for another. In fact, says Colagrande, it’s a good time to explore the spiritual dimension of your life. “Consider it a learning experience on the spiritual level and ask yourself: ‘In what direction does this circumstance point me as a new way to grow?’ Approaching it from this point of view offers the opportunity to impart meaning and hope to a task that is otherwise capable of drowning us in a sea of hopelessness and despair.”  

Resources:

Albany County Department for Aging
www.albanycounty.com/departments/aging/programs_services.asp;
(518) 447-7177

Alzheimer’s Associations
National: www.alz.org
Central New York State chapter: www.alz.org/centralnewyork
Hudson Valley chapter: www.alz.org/hudsonvalley
Connecticut chapter: www.alz.org/ct

Alzheimer’s Disease Assistance Center
Cohoes: (518) 238-4164

Caregiver Assistance, New York State Office of the Aging
www.aging.state.ny.us/caring/index.htm

CJD Insight
www.cjdinsight.org

Northeast Health
www.nehealth.com; (518) 274-3382

The Savvy Caregiver Program, New York Capital Region
(518) 238-4164

William Colagrande, MS
www.i4hd.com; (845) 339-6250

The Caregiving Years: Six Stages to a Meaningful Journey by Denise Brown: www.caregiving.com/years/index.htm.