Follow-up to Show Some Valentine Love to Caregivers

Last week I wrote a post, Show Some Valentine Love to Caregivers.  Today I want to share my efforts to do just that. I chose two sisters, Jocelyn and Stephanie.

Jocelyn is a member of my church.  She has a young teenage son who was born with a spinal birth defect; he is confined to a wheel chair.  For the past seven or eight years, I have watched Jocelyn and her sister Stephanie take care of Landon.  I’ve watched them take him to children’s choir practice and other youth events at church.  They have been dedicated to having him function as a normal child while they are both active in several ministries.

In an effort to bring a some attention to caregiving, I asked for permission to do a 5 minute presentation during our 10:45 AM church service on Sunday morning.

• First I asked how many family caregivers we had in the congregation (about seven people raised their hands)
• Next I told people about my web site and the challenge that I had given about showing some love to family caregivers
• I explained that caregiving is stressful and demanding
• Then I said I wanted to celebrate two family caregivers, Stephanie and Jocelyn

Jocelyn and Stephanie were totally unaware that they would be celebrated and the acknowledgement was really a surprise because my relationship with them is very casual.  Pastor called it an Oprah moment because they started crying and then people in the congregation started crying.  Each of them received a gift bag with a Valentine bear, a box of chocolates and a gift certificate to the spa.  (At Costco you can purchase two $50 gift certificates for $80.)

I hope some of you have given some consideration to showing some love to family caregivers.  It is especially appreciated when it is unexpected.  As I mentioned before, most family caregivers would love the gift of time – just a few hours of time to themselves.

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