Ah...i find this story hits me to the heart....not because my family raises a bunch of other people but....well i'm the oldest sibling and i have been trained since childhood to take care of others...i'll be honest, i feel it is the only thing i could do...not that i don't have other hobbies or interests...just that caring for other's has always been my life. It consumes my life in a way that i'm not sure how much is my nature and how much is habit. HECK, i even work and teach children in an afterschool program for a living! I guess it wouldn't bother me so much if it weren't for the fact that i'm taken for granted. Anyway. I get where the main character is coming from. I've dealt with the whole "You're being selfish" conversation before. It is part of being the person in the family that is always caring for others, sick or healthy, day or night, minor or major. The stuff just piles up after a while and it gets harder and harder to deal with, sometimes to the point it feels toxic. The guilt trips have to be the worst though.
Ah...i find this story hits me to the heart....not because my family raises a bunch of other people but....well i'm the oldest sibling and i have been trained since childhood to take care of others...i'll be honest, i feel it is the only thing i could do...not that i don't have other hobbies or interests...just that caring for other's has always been my life. It consumes my life in a way that i'm not sure how much is my nature and how much is habit. HECK, i even work and teach children in an afterschool program for a living! I guess it wouldn't bother me so much if it weren't for the fact that i'm taken for granted. Anyway. I get where the main character is coming from. I've dealt with the whole "You're being selfish" conversation before. It is part of being the person in the family that is always caring for others, sick or healthy, day or night, minor or major. The stuff just piles up after a while and it gets harder and harder to deal with, sometimes to the point it feels toxic. The guilt trips have to be the worst though.