I thought that I would share what has happened to a friend of mine. I’ve changed some of the details for privacy, but the gist of it follows:
Audrey was working full-time at a career that she loved. Her aging mother (who lived in the same city) needed more and more care. Eventually, Audrey made the life-altering decision to retire AND move her mother in with her.
This arrangement went on for a while. One day, when Audrey turned her mother in bed, she did something to her back. Audrey was now in chronic pain.
Audrey’s mother passed away.
Audrey got back-surgery. The back-surgery went very wrong, and Audrey is now in a wheelchair. She doesn’t know if it will be permanent or not. The quality of her life has greatly deteriorated.
She regrets having moved her mother in with her and wishes that she had considered other options as this would have never happened otherwise.
Audrey realizes that she gave too much.
There are limits.