The Caregiver Chronicles: True Stories of Life with Mom

Run errands yesterday, grabbing things for the holidays so I can relax this week unless upon point of death I need something to complete dinner.  Get home after hitting multiple stores because we make fried turkey breasts around this place and store one was out, store two had them completely defrosted which would be great on Wednesday but seems super creepy on Saturday plus they were in a container that was smelling kinda funky, and store three had old friends and a recent fellow murderer (long story you'd have to be there).  Unpacking the goodies and as I have gotten semi settled I'm asked where is her milk.  Her very specific skim milk that is the only milk she will ingest no matter how much more milk is in the house.  Well, that wasn't on the nifty shopping list even though for some reason a curtain rod was.  She tells me that she asked Alexa to add it to the shopping list but Alexa said it was already on there.  Downfall of AI I tell you.  Ice milk...

I figured out the address for this blog probably a week ago.  I didn't want to write then because I was frustrated and then a few days went by with the grind of life and there was no time.  I didn't plan on writing today because I was frustrated again but I realized if I waited till I wasn't frustrated I may never put finger to keyboard.  So I'm a woman in my early forties who has been the primary caregiver of my mother since literally days after I turned 30.  I'm not sure that either of us knew then that it would be a permanent situation but as it has become more clear that is the case it has been a struggle.  Not just because it's interesting raising your parents but even more so as they age, their memory slips here and there and they become more resistant to living in the world as it is instead of the world they want to hold on to with everything from rules and terminology being different to believing people are taking advantage of them because of the way t...