Tim Heath and his beautiful wife were a happy couple with two kids. They traveled around the world since the man was working in logistics. Then one day, back in 2005, Jacquie was taking her husband from work and suddenly got lost in a completely familiar environment.
Soon enough, a devastating diagnose was made: early onset of dementia. In several years Jackie couldn’t walk and feed herself. Tim abandoned his work in 2007 to provide her round-the-clock care. Ever since he had been with her. He was very active and outgoing person, but he put the health of his wife above his own, and he wouldn’t abandon her in a care institution.
Several days ago Jacquie returned to heaven. His son recorded a video, where he read a poem he composed to his father, praising his selflessness, loyalty, and dedication. I couldn’t stop crying when I was watching it. God bless the man and what he did to support his wife, even though he knew she would never understand what he was doing for her.
LOL made my dad cryIt’s been about 40 hours since mum gained her wings.This journey has been so, so hard. And I wanted to take a moment to honour my dad. A decade of his life he sacrificed to look after mum, to make sure that she was happy, fed, looked after, loved, and thriving as much as she could be.Through it all, he has kept his sense of humour, and done his best to enjoy life as much as it would let him.12 years of mum being sick. A bit over 10 years of being her full-time carer. This is a man that loves motorbikes, loves a beer (or 3…. or 7), loves hanging with his mates. A man who has always put on a smile in the face of crippling adversity. Through this entire journey, he has never thought twice about putting mum’s health and happiness first, even though she wouldn’t know about it.He’s too humble to talk about it, so I will. This is a man that deserves recognition. This is a man that has shown what true and unconditional love is. This is my dad. A man I am extraordinarily proud of. His job is done. He did good by mum. If only she knew how much he had done to make her walk through hell as easy as it could be.I know she is looking down on us tonight, her soul seeing everything he did to look after her.While this post is about him, this honour goes out to all those who have sacrificed their own livelihoods to look after someone with dementia. Your journey is long and hard, and often feels like it’s unappreciated by those you’re looking after… But believe me when I say, the rest of us know. I have written about the entire journey in my book. Chapter one starts here: https://www.facebook.com/notes/always-remember-this/chapter-1-the-call/1737073329950040/ The epilogue comes next week.You don't have to know Tim to tell him what an amazing person he is. Feel free to do so in the comments.
Posted by Always Remember This on Sonntag, 18. Juni 2017
