How many times recently have you told your caregiver, thank you? One, two, three or maybe not at all.

It isn’t that those of us who are living with pain are not grateful for the wonderful souls that support us through the ups and downs. For some of us, our caregiver is also our significant other. Do we not say it because in our minds it is a given that we are thankful for them?

I imagine that you understand this. There are times when the pain over-whelms me.  All I can think about is how to make it go away. I cannot see anything beyond the pain. I cannot think of anything except the pain. The pain has absorbed me completely–my every thought, my every movement.

I will be the first to admit that I fail over and over to let my caregiver/my partner know how much his support keeps me going. It isn’t that I do not notice the many different things he does to try to help me. I notice every one of the thoughtful things he does to try to make me comfortable. He has quite the box of tricks:

• A cold drink
• The heating pad
• An ice pack
• An extra blanket
• A gentle hug
• A quiet house
• A great belly laugh

I confess that I forget to tell him how much his sense of humor makes my days so much easier to handle. You see he has this uncanny ability to make me laugh. It doesn’t matter how much pain I am in or how sleep deprived I have become. He artfully fires off a zinger of humor that sends me into fits of laughter. I often laugh so hard that my stomach hurts.

I find myself wondering if I should make the time to express how much his care for me means when I am not in the middle of mind numbing pain. How can I make sure that I am not forgetting to let him know how thankful I am that I do not have to be on this journey of pain alone?

I have come up with a few ideas, like:

• Give him a day to do whatever he would like to do.
• Fix him a home cooked meal
• Give him a back rub, when he is tired and sore
• Take him out on a date to a place he would like

I know there are more ideas and would love to hear what you have thought of or done in the past.  We could create our own special “caregivers comfort kit”—let them know how much they mean to us. Let’s give them a shout out—Caregivers Rock!