Decease… Death… Die…

2. Video “Caregivers between generations: Danielle, Personal experiences of caregiving”.

In this video clip, Danielle shares her experiences with caregiving and role overload – a situation that occurs when the number of requirements or demands of a life make it impossible to do a good job.

Danielle: I had my granfather and my daughter and the baby all at a time. At first it was a little hectic, but it was a little easier in that when my daughter lived with me, she was very very helpful with my grandfather, which would have been her great-grandfather. It was when she moved that it was just me and my grandfather. I didn’t realize the impact until Keira moved to Arizona, and then it was just me and having to go home and making dinners for my grandfather. Doing the extra laundry. Running him around on the weekends if he needed a haircut or if he just wanted to go to his favorite little taco place to get some enchiladas or do something with the car. I always let him feel like – I asked him if there were any problems just to make him feel more useful. He would feel like there wasn’t anything he could do. I did it because that is the way I was raised. You help family. In my culture, that’s what you do. When they get old, you don’t put them in a home, you take them. It got hairy sometimes. It was a little hectic. But i never felt resentment or anything because, like I said, in my culture that’s what you do. I never thought otherwise. I couldn’t see my grandfather in a home and I couldn’t see my daughter out in the streets. You always make the best of what you have. The weekend that i went to see my granddaughter born, which was 2 years – I had my grandfather for 2 years – he passed away. They put him in the hospital while I was gone. I made it back before he passed away.

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