Comrade/Sister in Arms

Voyageur is like a bear.  When she sleeps, nothing can awaken her, but when she is awake, watch out!

I've talked quite a bit about my mom in these posts.  Today, it's about my most amazing sister.  Ok, so maybe she hasn't posted in awhile and I have to kick her.  She is the glue in our family.  She sure helps me keep my stuff together.

Growing up, she was the artsy one.  The one who played guitar (first, I of course quickly followed her every footstep), the one who got behind a camera - both 35mm and broadcast, THE one who wrote sappy poetry, the one who went dancing and took disco lessons.  She's always taken risks with her talent and never apologetic (in a good way).  She married young (by today's standards - mid 20s) and is still married to the same man.

She finds humor quickly in almost everything, stays grounded in chaos (or goes to sleep), and vanquishes villans in the night :)  She has taken on the role of primary caregiver for Mom.  It was nothing she ever thought would happen, especially while Mom is still relatively young.  What I have found the most amazing, is Voyageur has not complained once.  She took Mom to an ungodly amount of doctors appointments for initial testing, convinced Mom to go, sat in the room when the diagnosis was initially given (I was on conference call, 2500 miles away), and comforted Mom after diagnosis and the two and a half years following diagnosis.

Nerves of steel, heart of gold.  Voyageur is the go-to-person for Mom.  If Mom cannot 'find' Dad (in a hallucination), she calls Voyageur.  Mom calls her if she is unsure of the day, calls her about a dozen or so times before a dentist appointment, hair appointment to make sure they have not missed the appointment.  Voyageur wakes up some days with 3-4 messages on her phone from Mom, gets late night calls that the 'TV is broken' (Mom can't figure out the remote), and plays go between with the conservator.  All of this is just about 1/4 of what Voyageur deals with one a semi-daily basis.

Then there are the 2-3 visits a week with Mom to the grocery store, and I think Voyageur is over at Mom's about 4-5 days a week to go to Mom's favorite yarn place and just be company.  They always have a really good time and laugh until they almost pee their pants.  Aside from all that, she and I talk almost daily and she helps keep my head in the right place about Mom.  Oh yea, and she has a job and did I mention a husband?

For those of you who know someone who is a primary caregiver, take them fruit or flowers, be accessible and be a good friend to them.  They do way more than any one person should ever do.

Voyageur, I tip my proverbial hat to you.  Love ya buckets :) Now, get off your butt and write!!