LESSONS LEARNED: LIFE GOES ON
By Gail K. Kachnycz on 12 August 2026
On April 6, 2026 I wrote a post about the lessons I learned while living with friends and family for six months while our house was repaired and renovated. Here is a link to that post:
I think it is most appropriate that the first lesson I share is that “Life Goes On.” From the first week of
October 2025 through the end of March 2026, I was living from a suitcase. I couldn’t just put life on hold
because I was not in my usual surroundings or following my familiar routines. A lot can happen in six
months, and a lot did. The very weekend before I left the house, I attended a wedding. While visiting my
sister out of town, I saw her grandson and granddaughter perform in their high school musical.
Thanksgiving and Christmas gatherings took place. In January there was a baby shower, and in February
the baby was born. Our own grandson was born the first week of April, when I had been back in the
house for only about 10 days. While all this was going on, I was helping to plan a reunion of my nursing
school classmates, which took place at the end of April. May 11 I left for two weeks in France. That trip
had been planned since 2024!
In Romans 12:15, Paul wrote: “Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.”
Often, the two occur almost simultaneously. That is the way life is. Chronic illness is just that: chronic
and on-going. While the affected person may be struggling or declining, babies are born, weddings take
place, and other important milestones are achieved. My advice is: celebrate the happy events whenever
you can, as much as you can. Even during chronic illness, life goes on.
Another lesson I learned was that celebrating with others forms the connections that help when
support is needed during times of stress or sadness. Sometimes we, as caregivers, need that support. It is
usually offered by those in our network of relationships.
There may need to be some differences in how we participate. First of all, give yourself permission to
modify what you do now that you are a caregiver, which may have affected the time or resources you
have available. Set limits and communicate them clearly. If appropriate, offer alternatives. For example,
if you can’t arrive early to decorate for a party, perhaps offer to prepare the invitations or decorations
ahead of time at home. For many of the events I attended, I dressed more casually than I usually would
have, simply because the dressier clothing was packed away. I gave gift cards or had gifts delivered
directly to the recipient, since I had no place for storage.
Here are some ideas that may help make it easier to participate in events that may arise:
-Give gift cards
-Purchase gifts online
-Have gifts delivered directly to the recipient
-Bring food that requires minimal preparation (search Recipes section of this blog)
-Use food containers that do not need to be saved/returned
-If you will be attending alone, try to find others who are going and see if you can join them
-Wear clothing that can be dressed up or down with use of accessories. I stored the dress I wore to the
wedding and some clothing appropriate for a funeral with my sister who lives locally, to have access if
needed for these two extremes. Otherwise, I relied on about three outfits.
Our first hosting event in the new house was a birthday party for our dear friend Edith. She was a
longtime caregiver for her husband Fred and their story was featured in this post:
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