First and most imporantly: THANK YOU!!! Thank You for being there, when I really need you. For taking all the heat when other family members tell you that you should of done this or you could of done that. Yet you are the one that is there there 24/7 and stayed with me night and day from day one, thru rehab and now cares for my needs at home. You are the one that places my needs above your own. The one that has sacrificed your life , your health, your happiness so that I will do my exercises, or have a hot meal, or a clean bed.

As a survivor I know how easy it is for me to feel that my world has shrunken to the point that I belive it should revolve around me and my needs only. But let me assure you, your needs, your health and your happiness are imporant as anyones. If we were on a jet liner and the oxygen masks dropped, you need to make sure that your mask is placed securely around your nose first. For the fact is, if you were trying to put the oxygen mask on me first , and passed out, wouldn't we both parish {angel}. Oh but if the others in the family knew that you put your needs ahead of poor me, you might upset them enough for them to miss their favorite rerun of I Love Lucy. To me, you are the one that has made the ultimate sacrifice, shown the ultimate act of love, You have given up the life that you had built by your own free choice, your life for another. The ultimate act of Love!!!!!! what they give the congressional medal of honor for. I didn't volunteer to to give up my life, I didn't ask that my life be taken away, I am just the one that changed, that has become moody, sullen, and angry. Often taking out my fustrations on you. I am the one that gets all the sympathy from the rest of the family, while you take all the heat that they dish out; And for all your sacrifices, your hard and thankless work, your endless giving of yourself for another, you get to feel guilty for going to lunch with a friend you haven't seen in weeks. For taking time away from the situation that is threatening your health and sanity. I can't help but ask myself "Whats wrong with this picture??

You are the care-giver while I am the taker, the receiver of your faith, love and healing. By anyones reasonable expectation you are the one that need a fulltime staff of caregivers. The point is, we need you. we need your love, your courage, and your Inspiration. While you on the other hand, must realize that your phycial and mental health are more needed by us now then ever before. If you become sick or burnout from caring for us, we both ultimately lose and will parish. So Inorder for Your selfless, loving care to stay at its most effective level, It is imparative that you remember this word; Respite, (res pit) a rest, or temporary relief from the duties of a caregiver. A regular period of time each day or week for you to get away and have time for yourself. Weather it be a family member , neighbor or volunteer. You, as a caregiver must find some way to get relief on a regular basis from the daily stress of your caregiving duties. You have a very hard and mostly thankless job. Your emotions must cover the full specturm of the human experience, and your patience is often pushed past human limits.

So please remember to remind yourself that when your up to your ears in alligators its sometimes hard to remember that your job was to drain the swamp jester . Can't say it enough, THANK YOU FOR BEING THERE