In my never-ending pursuit of an ever-ready chocolate supply—my drug of choice--I found a sale on Dove chocolates produced to help support Susan G. Komen For the Cure. Inside the wrapper for each piece is an inspirational message for cancer survivors. I really think they should make these for Alzheimer's caregivers, too, but I'll take what I can get. (I am a cancer survivor, so I can take the encouragement both ways.)
In addition to having a piece of chocolate, I get to read things like: "Your strength is inspirational". "One day at a time—you'll get through it". "We're in this together". "Faith, hope and support sustain you". "You are stronger than you think you are". "You can thrive and survive".
Some days this may be all the encouragement I get, but at least I get a piece of chocolate with it. I'm even thinking about making up some "encouragement cards" to read when the chocolate runs out. I was thinking of phrases I could put on them, but the only thing I could come up with was, "It's not just a job, it's an adventure"! Somehow that seemed way too real to be termed encouragement. Does anybody have any better suggestions than that?
Believe it or not, there are caregiver greeting cards out there! I saw one in Target that is manufactured by a major card company and it acknowledged how hard the caregiving job is. I just wonder if anyone is buying them or if anyone here has ever received one? It was thoughtfully done and struck me as a great idea.