Hidden Caregiver Relief: You're Not the Only One

You know how sometimes you just… you have this feeling, and you know it's wrong, but it’s there every single day, every day, and it sits there, even when you're making tea and cutting up the fruit… …

I… I don't understand why I feel relieved. …

I am experiencing an unexpected — and I admit, slightly shameful — sense of relief. …

It’s been this never-ending cycle of worry and exhaustion. …

I think maybe I'm… relieved. …

I remember standing in the hospital room, watching the numbers on the machine. …

My father went into hospice care last Tuesday, and what I felt, truly, was a profound sense of relief. …

And for a single, fleeting moment, before the anger came roaring back, before the grief probably arrives (I’m still waiting for it, honestly), there was a tiny, almost imperceptible sense of peace. …

But there’s a quietude now, a strange, almost dissociative calm, that I didn't expect. …

you know when like you just feel this thing and it’s kinda BAD but also like GOOD?? …

And I hate myself for how peaceful it felt. …

i feel like a total monster but i gotta say it... …

peace. …

Relieving. …

I feel like a real piece of shit but my brother finally goin' was like... …

I feel like an absolute monster sometimes. …

Because everyone else is like, completely shattered, and I’m just… tired, and a little relieved, and I hate myself for it. …

feel like a monster. …

Anyone else ever feel this profound sense of relief after a parent dies? …

And when it stopped, when they stopped breathing, all I felt was this strange, quiet peace. …