I’ve been watching over my Joan for one year and one day now. I’ve been watching her struggle with my departure and it has really saddened me. I love her more than anything and watching her be in pain is the worst feeling in the world. When you love someone, you don’t want them to be sad. Even though I’m not around anymore, I am always with her. I’m the breeze in the air. I’m the thought that dings in her mind reminding her to turn the oven off. I’m the warm energy that surrounds her when she sleeps. I just love her more than anything and I will never truly leave her.
I am the reason our children had the idea to get Joan into SDA housing in the Adelaide CBD. I watch over my kids every day too, although they don’t need as much attention as Joan does. That’s why I made sure my children thought of getting Joan some company and proper attention from nurses. She needed help, even if she didn’t realise it.
I’ll admit, I am so much happier watching over her now that she is happy. She’s made some incredible friends and I know that they’re going to look out for her. She doesn’t realise that I watch over her every day, so I think she will feel more secure knowing that there are people out there who are physically there for her.
My favourite people at the specialist disability accommodation are the nurses. They seem to live and breathe the ideals of professional community nursing. It makes me so happy to watch how well they look out for her. Everything they do is with the residents in mind. The way they care for my Joan mimics how I used to care for her. It makes me very happy.
I love Joan more than anything. I miss her every day and I can’t wait until I can hold her in my arms again.