Imagine if your loved one "fired" you as their caregiver. That can be devastating or it can be humorous, depending on the circumstances. For an Alzheimer's caregiver, it could be just another day or something memorable.
A woman I've met through my experience writing about Alzheimer's sent me this wonderful interaction …
As I was getting him showered early this morning, he told me, "You sure don't know what you're doing, do you?" I told him, "Perhaps I could find someone to come to the house and bathe you?" His answer was, "Great! Get them over right away because you're horrible!!" I looked at this as a conversation, and the thought carried through three sentences - Yeah!
Yeah … it's the first REAL conversation he's had with her in a couple of months, though he had forgotten it as soon as the words sputtered from his lips. It does not take much to make a caregiver smile, even being told she's a lousy cleaner-upper.
Being fired is the nicest thing that's happened to this caregiver in a very long time. But she'll stick around because he's hired her again without an interview and will likely fire her many more times …
And what an amazing resumé she'll have.
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