Please purchase a $10 ticket and watch this 45 minute documentary. You will honor me, Sophie, Henry, Oliver and the millions of other families like ours. You will SEE us. If you can’t afford the $10, please email me. I will get it for you. I watched the film last night and wept all through it. The documentary does not sugarcoat what it means to be a caregiver; it doesn’t look at “both sides.” I think because of that, I wept. Because of that, I felt seen. To be honest, I have not always and sometimes ever felt seen by many of my friends and even by members of my own family. I think this film is a very important one because of its emphasis on caregivers themselves, including siblings. I wept because I am nearly sixty years old now and began this journey when I was only 31. I have been doing this for 27 years — have often felt unseen for nearly three decades. I also wept for the young woman I was and what I made of my life — something incredible and wondrous, however unseen. I hope that you will pay the $10 and watch it. I hope that if you are a caregiver, you will feel seen. I hope that if you aren’t a caregiver now, you will see.
Here’s a quote:
This film is specifically about the challenges and barriers many parent caregivers are facing because of the lack of support available on individual, organizational and systemic levels. It brings to light the stories of those caregivers who often feel they can’t be open about the difficulties of their situation.
The film certainly does not represent every caregiver’s story, or every facet of the caregiving journey. But unfortunately this film is needed because it IS the story for too many caregivers. The first step to any meaningful change will be acknowledging and understanding the realities of this unseen group.
Here’s the link to buy the ticket.You have until November 30th to watch it. Remember that I am happy to buy you a ticket, so email me if you need that!
I watched it Thursday and the dad who said he lives in constant fight or flight... his nervous system is so jacked up. The amount of chronic stress and trauma it seems caregivers experience not (I am guessing) as a result of caring for their children but by living in a society that not only refuses to see them, and their families, but simultaneously erects barriers to make the work of parenting and caregiving nearly untenable.
When Katie was sixteen and still living at home, I was depressed and stressed to the max between Katie, alcoholic husband, runaway daughter and drug dealer son. I thought about just driving into a semi on the highway that Katie and I were on.