Positive Transitions: Caregivers
Aired on Lifetime Television
Sunday, August 5 and September 23, 2007
Show 419
After a loved one passes away, the transition to building a new life is enormous and challenging. Your old life which centered around caring for someone, is gone and now the focus is on you. Jimmy and Marian were care givers for Marian's mother for 20 years. "She passed three months ago and we're in the transition of trying to rebuild a life for ourselves. We're planning trips—we've never taken a vacation together," says Marian. "We have so much time on our hands now and it's time that we spend with each other. She goes out fishing with me now. We go for walks. We couldn't go for walks before. It's like getting married all over again. Literally almost you know I say we're starting our honeymoon," says Jimmy. According to Leeza Gibbons and Dr. Jamie Huysman, Jimmy and Marian's feelings and experiences are typical. "I love that Jimmy and Marian have become the experts and they have so much to share," Leeza says. "And being a mentor and offering that really does help them overcome their grief too."
