Caregiving: A perspective

The following is an email I sent to my mom, the caregiver for my grandmother, her mother. I'm interested to see what many of you think:

Hey Mom,

I got to thinking about what you said the [hospice] nurse mentioned to you about caregiving being a job where you're bound to fail. I understand how seeing as the purpose of a caregiver might be seen as a job designed to keep someone alive and well might be something where you would be set up to fail since we all pass on someday.

Then I started thinking, death is as certain as gravity; telling someone that a job of a caregiver is set up to fail under the previously mentioned line of logic is the same as saying that a javelin thrower is set up to fail because the javelin will ultimately hit the ground.

Taking this metaphor a bit farther, I would perhaps consider a caregiver like a javelin, shot put, or discus thrower. Despite the fact that they put all of themselves into the throw, they know the instrument will eventually hit the ground, but that's taken as granted; they aim for distance. Grandma lived YEARS beyond what many believed to be her time simply because you gave her superior care.

In short, when grandma passes on, you did not fail, you won the gold.

I love you,

Nick