Our recent beach trip showed that life goes on regardless of where we are and encouraged me to reconsider thoughts on travel. I had decided that it was just too much work to try to go somewhere especially since all we would be doing is sitting in the hotel room reading. If that’s what it’s all about, we might as well stay home and have all of our accommodations. What I wasn’t considering was that as long as we’re at home I can’t just sit and read, there’s always something to be done. The beauty of being away is that someone else takes care of those things that have to be done instead of me.

I am rethinking some of the barriers I have created around our lives. I had forgotten the premise that I should always assume we can, rather than can’t, do those things that make life richer. It’s important to be open to opportunities for joy even when they come with what seems like overwhelming challenges because we are more capable than I sometimes give us credit for. My husband has always had a can-do attitude, I need to refresh and recommit to mine.

Yes, my role as CarePartner doesn’t change with our locale, I take it with me. But I get to leave so much else behind that it becomes, dare I say, easier. I am not going to plan any big trips to Europe, that would be beyond us now. However, local day trips and occasional overnights might just work their way back into our plans. Maybe that road trip to Yosemite we’ve been talking about for years? And the more we do it, the easier it will become. PD has taken a lot from us, maybe it’s time we took just a little bit back.