To Care for Others, You Must First Care for Yourself Saying Our Good Byes About a year ago my grandfather unexpectedly passed away. No one knew that there was anything wrong with him, for all that we knew he was quite possibly the healthiest and most energetic 87 year old man we had every known “At first they thought it could have been a heart attack but after many tests the doctors found out that the left side of my grandfathers heart had failed..” One day when he was at the leisure center up the street from his house he collapsed. An ambulance came but by the time they had gotten him to the hospital there wasn’t anything else they could do, he was gone. The Doctor’s Discovery At first they thought it could have been a heart attack but after many tests the doctors found out that the left side of my grandfathers heart had failed – something that had they known about, could have been treated. Taking Care of Your Loved Ones Five years ago my grandma got diagnosed with lymphoma cancer. Once she got sick her and my grandfather always joked around that she had taken care of him for the first 50 years of their marriage and now it was his turn to take care of her for the next 50 years. My grandfather started cleaning, doing the laundry and cooking. Battling Cancer After battling cancer for a couple of years, my grandma was finally in remission and doing well despite everything that she had been through. My grandfather still continued caring for her and began to stop caring for himself. There is no way to know for sure but maybe had my grandfather cared for himself as well, his heart might have been healthier. Loving Others Means Loving Yourself It’s hard when you love someone so much that all you want to do is care for them and help them in any way possible. Whether the person you’re caring for is a parent, grandparent, sibling, child or friend it’s important to remember that the best way to care for them is if you’re at your best. “When you take time to take care of yourself, good things usually happen.” You stay healthier, you feel better about yourself and you have more energy, enthusiasm and can keep giving care. Like airplanes always say, you must first put on your oxygen mask before assisting others.