77: The Reality of Caregiving: How Sam's Experience Shaped Her Life

What does it mean to love someone and resent them at the same time? In this episode, Sam shares what it's been like to grow up alongside her brother Alex, who has a severe disability, and how thirty-two years of caregiving has shaped every part of who she is.

In conversation, we tackle:
* Growing up as the oldest daughter when your brother needs 24/7 care
* The anxiety of being a kid who felt she couldn't stay after school because she needed to be home
* The isolation of hearing "you're a saint" when you're trying to share how hard things really are
* How caregiving pulled Sam into therapy as a career - and the resentment that came with realizing it
* What it means to grieve a relationship with a sibling who's still alive
* The moment Sam realized she could hate her brother sometimes - and that was okay
* The unexpected moments of joy and connection that exist alongside the exhaustion

This is a conversation about the full spectrum of caregiving - the love, the burden, the funny moments, the grief, and everything in between. Sam's vulnerability in sharing her story offers a window into an experience that touches so many families but rarely gets discussed with this level of honesty.


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