Caregiving Story

I was living in Fargo for 20 years and my family of 7 had called me and asked me if I would come to Hibbing, MN and take care of my father. They all live there in Hibbing and I am the second to the youngest in the family and the only one who has worked in the medical field. I have 3 children and I have been engaged for 3 years. I thought about it for a long time and talked it over with my family. I had to make a big decision.

I would have to leave a job that I loved dearly and enjoyed, my kids would have to leave their friends and school, and I'd have to leave the new man in my life that wanted to be my soul mate.

After 3 months of decision making, I packed up my kids and I and move to Hibbing to take care of my father. I knew in my heart that this was not going to be easy because he was and is a drinker. Not knowing his medical condition, and knowing that the rest of my siblings were not willing to take this on, I was willing to do this for him. So I took care of him and his needs and it was the biggest challenge of my life. In the end, I was to make the decision to put him in independent living center because he was falling all the time and I could not get the family to help me out.

I asked them so many times to help me so I can get another job so I could support my 3 kids and stay to help our father, but they were not willing to take the time from their lives to help me.

So now I am still in the process of getting him settled into the long-term care facility and, as far as my family goes, they are very upset with me because I had to do this to our father. I know in my heart that I did the very best I could, and for his well being he is in very good hands with the staff there. I feel that my goal for my dad was to get him the help I could not give. I do not regret what I did or the decision I made to come take care of him. I love my father very much.