The small wins you get here and there, it made a big difference, you know? When they remember their favorite thing to do or thing to eat, and you get it for them and they’re super stoked, you just—you know, you remember, good job, you know? You take that. That kind of helps mentally.

I think some of the rewarding parts about it, since it’s in hindsight now and my mother has passed, the rewarding part is just to know that I was with her through the most important times of her golden years. And looking back on how I dealt with taking care of her and getting to know her a little bit differently, those are really good memories, that I’m so glad that I was able to be with her during those last, that last year or so. I know at the time, it didn’t really feel that way, but now that I’m looking back, I just feel so fortunate that I was with her.

I have a neighbor who is going through the same thing with his mother, so just talking with him and sharing some of the experiences back and forth from him, bouncing ideas off of each other. Hey, I did this, oh, hey, that sounds like something I might want to try or maybe we should talk to family about that. So just talking to other people anywhere has really helped.

So, my mom is in a support group for caregivers or, you know, for people with dementia or Alzheimer’s, and my mom has been in that, and it’s been so wonderful for her, because she’s learned a lot and she also can connect with people that are going through exactly what she’s—you know, different things, but just to have that community. And so, she’s always sharing with me.

…the whole family needs to be involved.

My sister and I tag-team a lot of, get two brothers, they can barely take care of themselves, so it was her and I for the most part… but through this, we’ve been able to come together, which has been—it’s too bad that it took that to bring us together.

Not their fault, they don’t mean it… You really have to get tough skin…

I’d say like, try to be mentally prepared. I know it’s a hard thing to explain to people, but yeah. I don’t know. Have compassion, be mentally prepared, remember the good times, you know. And if that’s your loved one, do the right thing.

Probably also like not to take moments for granted kind of thing to where I wish we would’ve spent a little bit more time, to make a little bit more memories, instead of trying to hold on.

All credit to my mom, because she saw what happened with her mother or his mother years before, and when the house is not in order, and what I mean by that is like insurance, all, everything, financials, savings, everything associated with getting your house in order. So, you know, you’re not going to catch it all, but getting things lined up ahead of time was really, really helpful.