Celebrating Everything!

When you’re busy caregiving, it’s easy to view holidays and special occasions as “not applicable” to you. After all, what’s to celebrate? If you’re like me, the last thing you want to do is add another “do” to your “to do” list. You might not feel like celebrating ANYTHING if you’re just trying to keep your head above water. And you’re so busy trying to juggle work, caregiving, and, dare I say it, perhaps a social activity or two, that the last thing you want to do is make the effort to celebrate for someone who might not appreciate it (aka: that elderly loved one with a challenging personality!) or someone who just isn’t mentally capable of appreciating the effort (or maybe even the day!). But it is for these very reasons that I think celebrating any little thing is very important.

At this time in life, celebrating with my mom is a little hollow. So, if you’re like me, celebrate those people who make caregiving your elderly loved one just a little easier. In my case, I celebrate my mom’s helpers. They do such an amazing job caregiving my mom and supporting me in my efforts. So I love to take the opportunity to celebrate – them! Yes, it is another task. Buying cards. Buying gift cards. Writing out the cards. Consulting the schedule to make sure each helper receives her card BEFORE the big day, not three days after. I always drag my feet when it comes time to head off to Walmart, but once there, my spirits pick up and I find myself getting into that celebratory mood, no matter what the holiday. And seeing the helpers’ genuine and heartfelt appreciation, not just for the gift but for the gesture, makes it all worthwhile.

Search the Internet and you will find that there is literally at least one event or holiday for each of the 365 days of the year. So pick one. It doesn’t have to be any of the biggies: Christmas, Easter, Valentine’s Day. Just pick A day - any day - to celebrate something. Because there is always something worth celebrating.

Happy Halloween!