I Journaled throughout my adolescence and aspired to be a published author by the age of 25 but God had different plans for me. Stepping into a role as a part-time caregiver for my mother in 2009 and then full-time by 2016 provided a whole new perspective on self-care, self-compassion, and self-control. Helping her transition through each stage over the years has increased awareness of habits, pitfalls, and assumptions the public struggles with. Her transition into a memory care facility expanded my knowledge and exposed me to even more areas families go through unwillingly.

 

Being given an opportunity to see life through the eyes and mind of a person living with Bipolar Manic-Depressive disorder then adding mixed Dementia later in life made me understand how God’s plan would unfold for me. Sharing my story with valuable lessons learned along the way has given me purpose beyond what I could ever imagined. I now aspire to create a cultural shift to slow the epidemic of increasing caregivers related to Dementia which includes cancer and diabetes patients, special needs families, and parents in general.     

     

“When we know better, we do better.” – Maya Angelou