This shall be considered Amendment #4 to the Spousal Immunities and Protections for Sanity (SIPS) Bill of Rights:

The spouse living with Lewy body dementia shall retain the right to erase a substantial portion of the day’s frustrations through the timely application of a sincere hug and an “I love you.”

This amendment recognizes that:

• The caregiver may have been awakened three times during the night.
• Furniture may have been rearranged.
• Coffee cups may have been mis-appropriated.
• The same question may have been asked seventeen times.
• Patience may be running dangerously low.

Nevertheless, a genuine hug remains powerful medicine.

A heartfelt “I love you” shall be considered an approved method of conflict resolution.

While it may not completely erase the day’s events, it often serves as a reminder that the disease and the person are not the same thing.

Commentary

One of the strange realities of caregiving is that you can be exhausted, frustrated, annoyed, and fiercely loving all at the same time.

Some days I am convinced I have reached my limit.

Then he wraps his arms around me, tells me he loves me, and suddenly I remember why I am here.

The slate isn’t completely wiped clean.

But it is clean enough to begin again tomorrow.

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