Do You Have a Special Caregiver in Your Life?

I am very blessed and have quite a few reasons why. My main caregiver is my husband, Dave. He has told me from the beginning of my diagnosis that I don't ever have to worry about anything. He will always take care of me.

I can always count on him, but I have many more family and friends that I can count on if I need them. Often, when I travel, Dave is unable to join because of work, but I have many backups who love to help.

My young and compassionate caregiver

One of the great caregivers I have is my granddaughter, Skyler. She is 11 but is very mature for her age. At first, I would feel bad and didn't want her to feel like she needed to help me, but she always insisted that she wanted to help.

Many times, I offered her money when I had extra, but she always refused. It's always a tug of war, and I have to remind her that I don't always have money, but when I do, I would rather pay her than pay a stranger to do things for me.

I am amazed at the lengths she will go to to make sure that I have everything that I want and need. I sometimes have to tell her that I need to do some things myself because I need to keep moving.

This June, she helped me get to and took care of me at The Annual National Alpha-1 Conference (For more information about Alpha 1 and the conference, you can see that here. This is the second time that she has gone with me. She is such a big help, especially getting on and off the airplane.

She also meets friends while she is there, gets to spend time without me, and hangs in the kids' room with the other kids who attend the conference. Not only does she get to have fun, but she also learns how to take care of herself health-wise. Alpha-1 is genetic, so she learns all she can to help her and her own family one day as well.

A helping hand to all

Skyler doesn't hesitate to help anyone in need. She helped my co-leader, Deb, and many other Alphas that weekend as well. Any time she saw someone struggling with something, whether it was someone needing help with putting on a sweater, changing a battery on an oxygen machine, making a plate, or grabbing a drink for anyone in need.

She was always on the lookout for others in need. She reminds me of my youngest son, who was at that age and is doing the same to help me and others at the conferences.

I could still do some of the things that Skyler helped me with on those trips if she hadn't come, but it would have been much harder and would have taken me much longer to get those things done.

She has gotten a few perks out of helping, though. Because of it, she got to see Dallas last year and Miami this year. Her hard work pays off. She even gets some souvenirs from Nana out of the deal.

My hope for future adventures

I don't know what I would have done without my caregivers on this journey, but this one is special. I hope she still wants to hang out with me after she has grown, and I keep reminding her that our adventures together don't have to be with her as my caregiver, but she insists.

I have 3 more younger grandkids and they keep asking me when it is their turn. I hope I get the opportunity to take them all.

Do you have a special caregiver in your life? Please share yours in the comments below.