The Stress Doesn’t Always Go Away When a Loved One Dies | by Linda Brendle

I recently came across an article in the New York Times originally posted on January 30 titled “For some Caregivers, the Trauma Lingers.” It was written by Judith Graham, and it’s about PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) in caregivers. Graham says there has been little research on the topic which, she thinks, means it has been overlooked or discounted. She goes on to list some of the typical symptoms of PTSD: flashbacks, feelings of numbness, anxiety, guilt, dread, depression, irritability, apathy, and tension among others.

When Reality Bites, Write | By Guest Blogger Krista Krueger

This blog sort of fits with my blog at www.kompletelykrista.wordpress.com  called Writing and Reality because this is part of the reality that goes with my writing.  One of my daughters is Autistic and that takes up a lot of my time.  The more therapies, the more interaction that she gets, are all things that help her development.  One of my sons also has what has been termed as delayed, so he needs less but still some help in maturing and that kind of stuff.  The amount of meetings I go to during the school year is amazing.  My husband works two jobs so that I can stay home and take care of her and the other two kids.  For roughly six years I’ve been doing this by myself.  Sometimes people try to help but when it comes to our kids, we’re very specific about who can watch them for us to get an hour out to maybe grab something to eat and that hasn’t been able to happen for a long time now.

Shoes, Dreams and Writing

I dreamed about shoes recently, twice. According to on-line dream interpreters, I may have some rethinking to do about my writing career.

Just a Dream

I dreamed about Mom and Dad last night. I do that quite a bit lately. I guess it’s my subconscious working through the grief of Dad’s death and the nagging guilt that caregivers feel about this decision or that situation that could have been resolved differently or handled better. When I woke up at 4:30, the dream was clear, and I mentally composed a brilliant blog post around it. I should have gotten up and written it then or at least