Third Time's a Charm!

We had a great group yesterday, thanks to everyone who participated and shared their stories!  Our next groups are June 10th in Seattle, and June 14th in Everett.  Hope to see you all there, and keep doing the great job I know you are all doing.

Northern Group.

For those of you in Everett who need a support group, the first meeting of our Everett group will be May 9 at 9:45am at the:
Carl Gipson Senior Center
 3025 Lombard Ave.
Everett, WA 98201
T: 425-257-8780

You can check this blog for info or contact me at the same email, joyincaregiving@yahoo.com.

I hope to see you there.

Let's Try This Again...

Next Monday, May 13th is our next group and I'm looking forward to it!  Bring yourselves, bring your friends, bring your family - stay for the support.

Cancelled due to illness.

I'm not sure if anyone is checking this site before going to the group this morning but I've had to cancel it due to illness.  I don't want to infect anyone - and I'm so sorry for the late notice!  Hopefully, our next group will proceed without problem.

Support Group for All!

Our second group is tomorrow in Seattle from 10am to 12pm, location and directions on the sidebar.  I look forward to seeing anyone who needs a little extra help and support!

 The Caregiver's Bill of Rights.

I have the right:

• To take care of myself. Caregiving is not an act of selfishness. It will give me the capability of taking better care of my loved one.
• To seek help from others even though my loved ones may object. Only I can recognize the limits of my endurance and strength.
• To maintain facets of my life that do not include the person I care for, just as I would if he or she were healthy. I know that I do everything that I reasonably can for this person, and I have the right to do some things just for myself.
• To get angry, be depressed, and express other difficult feelings occasionally.
• To reject any attempts by my loved one (either conscious or unconscious) to manipulate me through guilt, and/or depression.
• To receive consideration, affection, forgiveness, and acceptance for what I do, from my loved ones, for as long as I offer these qualities in return.
• To take pride in what I am accomplishing and to applaud the courage it has sometimes taken to meet the needs of my loved one.
• To protect my individuality and my right to make a life for myself that will sustain me in the time when my loved one no longer needs my full-time help.
• To expect and demand that as new strides are made in finding resources to aid physically- and mentally-impaired persons in our country, similar strides will be made towards aiding and supporting caregivers.

 This version was taken from www.caregivers.utah.gov, where it is attributed to Jo Horne.

Fantastic!

Our first group was lovely; thank you to all the participants for coming and sharing.  The second group is on April 15th in the morning, at the same location.  I'm looking forward to it already!

Second Meeting.

Hello everyone, I'm so looking forward to our first group meeting!  My intention had always been to have the group on the 25th and assess what future times/weeks worked for everyone who wanted to keep attending, instead of arbitrarily setting a time or week.  The day will always be Monday, it's just a question of morning or evening, and which week of the month.

It's been brought to my attention that there is demand for a morning meeting, so I have reserved my meeting space for a second group on Monday, April 15th from 10am to 12pm in an effort to see if that might serve everyone's needs better. 

If you are unable to make it to the evening meeting on the 25th, I hope you're able to come to our second meeting.  I hope this will turn out to be a helpful and supportive group for as many people as possible!