I’m very fortunate to have family nearby. We moved to North Carolina to be near my in-laws, and a few years after we arrived my father-in-law was diagnosed with a brain tumor. He passed away at the age of 60 in 2005. My parents moved out here shortly after we did, and so did my sister and her family.
I know some people have a lot of issues with their in-laws, but my mother-in-law is an angel (just like my father-in-law is in the next world!). She picks up my son every morning, packs his lunch, and takes him to a half day preschool, then picks him up from there and takes him home with her for the rest of the day. At the end of each day she brings him home to us! He’s only been going to this new school for about a month, and he has homework that’s due every Thursday. This week on Wednesday night I asked him about his homework and his eyes lit up. He said, “Nanny did it with me!” He took it out of his bag and sure enough, it was done.
Last night I was worrying about what I should fix for dinner, and I’d been working upstairs in my office (it was a work from home day) so I didn’t hear my mother-in-law when she came in with my son. After work I went downstairs and saw a big container of chili and some blueberry muffins that she had made for us! Dinner was already done. And she does this kind of thing fairly often.
Last week I missed some work unexpectedly when my five year old son got croup and his pediatrician sent him to a hospital in an ambulance! He was kept overnight but is doing great now. Anyway, another day this week my daughter needed to get picked up from school a little early so she could get to an orthodontist appointment. I didn’t think I should take off more work this week, so I asked my dad if he could pick her up and take her. He used to substitute at the high school she goes to, so he knew exactly where to go to get her for early dismissal. After he took her to the appointment, he brought her back home.
My niece and her dad both have Fibromyalgia, too, so they of course empathize. My niece is doing really great and spends a lot of her free time with my girls. She’s a wonderful role model for them (she’s 25 and they are 12 and 15).
A couple weekends ago I had made up my mind to really clean my kitchen. I was having a hard time getting started, but my mom and dad showed up out of the blue just to say hi. My mom said she’d love to clean my stovetop (ha!) and spent a good amount of time scrubbing until it shined. She even lifted it up and cleaned under the drip pans. So nice!
Anyway, I just wanted to express my appreciation for the support I have from my extended family. I definitely couldn’t manage a full-time job, a house and family without all their help! I hope others with fibromyalgia are able to get similar support from their friends and family.
