Where's your community?
The other day I was talking to Shayna and she said "there's the adage of it takes a village to raise a child, but it also takes a village to just be a person in the world."
I'll spare you my monologue on how America holds monogamous romantic relationships sacred, at the expense of all other types of relationships, and encourages this through the legal system and access to healthcare. Let's just say that I agree with Shayna.
Maybe you've read Bowling Alone or the flurry of writing that followed. TL;DR: Americans used to be known for their love of clubs and now most people say that they have literally no one they are real friends with.
Growing your community doesn't have to mean joining clubs or a caregiver support group. A community can be whatever feels right to you. It usually doesn't look like a Norman Rockwell painting, it looks like the rest of real life: messy.
A community is whatever makes you feel seen, heard, and connected. We all need that, caregivers or not.
PS. When Adrienne was caring for Steve, she preferred not to talk to her friends about caregiving. She wanted to keep her friendships about what they'd always been about, to help keep caregiving from totally taking over her life. If you're looking for a place to talk about caregiving, you can find it in our private Facebook communities.