Between Caregiving

["Between Caregiving" 11x14, available at #artandsoup] My grandma lives in a care center near my home and, while my mom is out of town, I've been able to help take care of some of her needs. It's humbled me to see how much my mom does on a regular basis to take care of her mother-in-law with so much love. I know about my mom's love because she's taken such good care of me all my life, even now that I'm an adult. Her care has informed how I care for my children. It's an interesting circle of life, parents caring for children, children caring for aging parents. And then there's a space in the middle where you both can take care of yourselves and, if you're lucky, you get to be peers and friends. Getting to know my parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles as people and not just caregivers has been such a rewarding part of adulthood. I'm fascinated to learn what they're interested in, what makes them laugh, what things they're working on. I love any chance we get to sit down and be friends. I learn so much from them and hope one day I'll be able to care for them as well as they've cared for me and cared for their parents. Family is a beautiful thing.