Sticks like glue …
Dealing with Caregiver Guilt by guest blogger Dr. Linda Cobourn
“I’m rubber, you’re glue, whatever you say bounces off me and sticks to you.” My father-in-law blamed me. Unreasonable, hurled out of frustration while we stood in the trauma unit, his words hurt as we waited to see if my husband would survive. The beginning of caregiver guilt. I was thirty miles away in a graduate class when the driver of the pick-up truck broadsided Ron’s Taurus, but the reproach stayed with me for seventeen years.
I became a walking glue stick.
Caregiver guilt is a common emotion. The 2015 State of Caregiving Report noted that 81% of spousal caregivers feel guilty, making caregiver guilt the #1 emotional trap. We think we should do it all without complaint and we become frustrated with ourselves because we can’t. We self-punish for simply being human. I beat myself up for an accident I did not cause. That made me question every decision I made concerning my husband’s care.
I agreed to the emergency surgery and it damaged his heart. My fault. I let him be put into the rehab unit where his slippers were misplaced and he caught pneumonia. My fault. Even thought on occasion it might have been better if Ron had not survived the accident.
That one stuck on with Gorilla Glue.
God’s Caregiver Guilt Solution
But God provides solvent to even the strongest of adhesives. I began to search the Scriptures for a way to dislodge my self-reproach. One day, I found this verse in Joshua 5:9: This day have I rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you.
The Israelites had been so beaten down by 430 years of slavery, they no longer believed God could love them. Before they entered the Promised Land, God told them the shame they carried was rolled off them. No longer stuck with the reproach of Egypt, they could stop being walking glue sticks.
Watch for incoming …
So could I.
It took time, prayer, and counsel from friends to realize I bore irrational guilt. I blamed myself for things not my responsibility. God had forgiven my shortcomings; I needed to forgive myself. Time to learn to be more like rubber, repelling thoughtless remarks.
Just the other day, someone ventured to criticize a decision I’d made for my husband’s well-being. I let it bounce off me. Like rubber.
ABOUT
Dr. Linda Cobourn
Dr. Linda Cobourn is a Literacy Specialist who works with at-risk learners and non-traditional college students. She holds Instructional II certificates from Pennsylvania and Delaware in Elementary Education K-6 and Reading PK-12. Dr. Cobourn earned her doctoral degree in Educational Leadership, focusing on the use of critical literacy in middle school. Currently, she teaches at Springfield College in Wilmington. She was recently cited by the Mayor of Philadelphia for her work constructing literacy programs for inner-city youth. She is the author of three published books and writes a blog at http://writingonthebrokenroad.blogspot.com/
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Find devotional and inspirational family life topics by Stephen Bly and Janet Chester Bly here: https://www.blybooks.com/genre/inspirational-family-life/
Janet, thanks so much for allowing me space on your blog today!
Linda: You are so very welcome! Thanks very much for sharing your tough experiences for the benefit of many others in similar circumstances!
Your analogy is so helpful and easy to remember. Thanks for the wonderful words of wisdom!
Greetings, Sandy: Thanks for your note! I got some helpful hints in how to handle some tough situations too from this article! Very thankful!