text: I am so concerned about my aunt right now. Her eyes are so tired, and she is so determined to see this through — and that is admirable, but any time someone is caring for a family member, particularly a spouse, there is a whole different dimension and sorrow associated with that — more so even than what I’ve done with my ladies. It is challenging and difficult and Heart-rending. It is partly the weight of responsibility, but it is more than that — it is the intense love of a lifetime, playing an unfamiliar “last verse” to an old love song, a sorrow that never leaves you, a weight in your chest, a “foot in your stomach” kind of feeling that wants so badly to hope for the best, but is constantly being hit in the face with reality. We are in a solemn place of responsibility to hold fast the prayer ropes for our loved ones in these days. My aunt, in particular, but also their four children and their families.
  I suppose this is too long — that I’ve probably lost some of you long ago. For those of you who are still with me, please pray for Vernon and Freda Zehr and their family. Logically, we know that dying is a part of living. Experientially? Well, it just doesn’t make sense.
  Praying right now for them. I haven’t had nearly the kind of care-taking responsibilities that you have had, but even what I did have helps me relate to all that you said. The year that my father was in a nursing home, and I was “managing” that and my mom, I had to give up absolutely every other activity I had been doing. Then when he died, my mother needed more care for 6 years, and she was in a nursing home almost a year at the end. Let us know what happens with your uncle.