Suddenly, it's over. Your loved one has passed on. You have completed the labyrinth of caregiving. Now what? Maybe you've forgotten who you were before. You've been consumed for so long by caring for someone you love. You have given of yourself and done a beautiful thing.
After the first months of mourning, grief will come out of nowhere when you least expect it. Don't sit around and wait for depression to set in. Pick up your passion—whatever you do where time passes and you don't even notice—and follow it. It will lead you on a new path. Look at it as an adventure! And God bless you.
AARP Caregiving Ambassador Gail Sheehy leads us through the Labyrinth of Caregiving, which she describes as a path of nine "turnings." Gail, author of the groundbreaking book "Passages," traveled around the country capturing the personal stories of a handful of the more than 44 million Americans caring for adult loved ones.
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