INTRODUCTION TO CAREGIVING
My understanding of caregiving began long before my professional journey in wellness and gerontology. I grew up in rural Arkansas, where my closest neighbors were my paternal grandparents, and they lived about two hundred yards from me.
When I was seven, my grandmother was diagnosed with breast cancer. The nearest doctor was over an hour away, so my grandfather and parents took turns taking her to the doctor. Sometimes, my sister, who was seventeen-years-old at the time, took her. Her radiation treatment required lots of tender love and care, so my mom and sister took turns assisting her with bathing and wound care. My parents cooked extra food to feed my grandfather and my grandfather, and we all went to church together to support and encourage her.
I can still hear my grandmother saying this three-word prayer that she said throughout her journey, “Lord, have mercy.”
At seven years old, this was my introduction to caregiving. We didn’t use the word caregiving, as a matter of fact, our language for caregiving then and even now is “see ‘bout.” We had to see ‘bout my grandma. Whatever we chose to call it, I saw how each person who assisted my grandmother mattered.
