You know what, I quit
Based on A Prompt From My Caregiver Writing Group
In the rearview mirror when I watch my caregiving technique, I wince at this.
Yes, I would throw my hands in the air in dramatic exasperation. “I can’t, I give up,” I would say, making for the bedroom door.
You know what, I quit would not land the way it was intended. It would frighten Burt. It is a threat, afterall. It would not touch the rational and urge him to agree to whatever I deemed necessary this time.
It was the wrong thing to say, not just because it was completely ineffective. It was wrong because he did not need to have anything else scary in his life. He had the dementia and it depressed and diminished him in so many ways.
My job, my purpose wasn’t to coax hardship on him. I was supposed to, I expected myself to aid and protect him. Besides, “I quit” was never the truth of it.
this is our life 