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With a heavy heart, I wanted to update the lovely people on this forum that my mother passed away. It was about two months ago, and I have since just been taking time to catch my breath.
Honestly, I never knew how bad the end of my parent's life could be or how bad it would get. I had a fear of the "worst", and the worst is exactly what became reality. I was lucky to have found this forum nine years ago. Nine long years!! I feel like you are my dear friends. I know your screen names. I shared my most private concerns, and you listened, held my hand through it all and provided helpful wisdom. You were here in the middle of the night when I could not sleep and needed a place to go. Your wisdom grounded me. I want to thank you. You helped. You mattered. You made a positive impact in the life of this one person. What I am now finding is that the journey still continues after our LO's death. The active caregiving is done, but there is so much to process in the aftermath of such complexities when having had a LO with AD. For those also dealing with family dysfunction, that is just one more layer on top of a huge heap of stuff. For me, I think I was in a "flight or fight" mode with bracing myself for what new horror this disease would reveal to me. The dust has now settled, and I feel like I am standing on the sideline looking at the debris field. I think my focus now is on recovery and restoration. There is so much calm and quiet space now that I am only beginning to realize how much mental energy this occupied. Thank you all. Many blessings.

I am very sorry for your loss. Caregiving is a very isolating experience, and it is places like this that offer us an anonymous vehicle for exchanging feelings and experiences that really help us feel not so alone, supported.

I pray supernatural peace and comfort from our Lord over you. As you digest all that you have endured, I pray that you will know peace and rest. Should you experience anything less, please do not hesitate to find therapeutic support to talk everything out. PTSD is real for us. Blessings now and always.
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GingerMay, thinking of you and offering my deepest condolences on the loss of your mother. I hope the happiest memories possible comfort you during this sad time.

💐💐💐
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I’m sorry for your loss and the long, hard journey. Wishing you much healing and peace
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I'm so sorry you lost your Mother.
God bless you for all you did for her.
Take it easy in the days ahead~
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Sincere condolences .
Your post very eloquently described your journey and many of us see similarities to our own, including the aftermath and need for recovery and restoration . Take care of yourself now.
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Thank you for posting. We can’t know if our advice helps people, but I’m glad that in your case it did. Sincere condolences on the loss of your mom.
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Congratulations!!! You made it though 9 very long years and are still standing a stronger, better and more understanding person. That is one of the many blessings of a long hard journey when it's all said and done.
I hope you now take plenty of time just for yourself to heal and process all you've been through and just enjoy the "calm and quiet space" while it lasts.
May God bless you and keep you in the days, weeks and months ahead.
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Aw... 9 long years... wow. I'm so happy for your "emancipation" from caregiving. My sincere condolences on the passing of your Mom. I'm so pleased that this forum and your cohorts helped you through it. May you receive peace in your heart and a full, speedy recovery of your life going forward (((hug!)))
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My condolences for your loss and best wishes for the years ahead. I am new in my caregiving journey but have been reading a lot and my understanding is that this period you are in, is in some ways, just as difficult.

There is grief in the loss of your LO, but also the loss of your identity as caregiver, the person you were “before” (but you are forever changed), grief perhaps for “time lost” or loss of your own physical health (or finances or career put on hold)… However this decade changed you, I wish you patience with the process of finding a path forward, kindness towards yourself if you feel you cannot do as much as you want to do right now, peace in the knowledge that you did your best and probably helped others here by sharing your experience. Blessings…
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So sorry for your loss. No matter how prepared we think we are, death is still an enemy that steals our loved ones away. Our consolation is knowing that we did our best to make them comfortable and that they are no longer in pain or depression. Still, as you said, death is just the end of a chapter for those of us still here. Give yourself some time to allow your mind and body to recover. All of the things that we have to take care of will still be there tomorrow. Of course, there are certain legalities that require immediate attention, but other things that involve our emotions can wait a bit.
I'm glad that you found this medium to have guidance and a sounding board, as well as comfort.
Wishing you peace in the days to come.
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My condolences on the loss of your dear mom. I'm happy to know she's at peace now and that your focus is on recovery and restoration from a long, hard process.

Wishing you the best of luck with all of it.
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