Chocolate's good, Joe....

And saying "Fuck this!!" quite often, either under your breath, in your head, or very loudly in the middle of a field somewhere...whilst ensuring you've also loaded even MORE chocolate into your backpack before setting out for the field!

Remember that you two young un's still have a right to a life. Yes, you DO! And it's OK to WANT that.

Remember that sometimes, the person you're caring for would actually feel much happier being cared for by someone else, but they just don't know how to tell you, for fear of upsetting you...so each side struggles on for years. That often happens, but people have no idea until something happens and one side or other is simply unable to care/be cared for, and that's when it often all spills out...

And remember that it's OK to cry, be angry, rant, rage and fall over sideways in Exhausted Giggles whilst cleaning the poo off the loo again for the 4th time that day, because you KNOW that really, this isn't truly happening and you are merely inside a Virtual Monty Python Movie...

It's also perfectly OK to sometimes feel you HATE the situation you're in and the person who is causing you all this grief and hard work too. Most folks won't ever tell you that, but most folks don't have to do what you're doing. But, it's OK to feel those emotions. And it's OK because MOST of the time you love them and you feel compassion for them, but the other side of those feelings is also OK.

And if anyone, *ANYONE* ever DARES to criticize you for feeling that way, or for being down, or for just simply not being able to cope any longer, doing their best to make you feel guilty, tell them to fuck off...and then, eat MORE Chocolate, for they truly haven't got a CLUE about this Journey, and chances are they'd never ever contemplate doing it themselves anyway....

Pamper yourselves, Joe..have times of the day/week that are just for the two of you...when you can eat Chocolate under the duvet together, and say "Fuck it!" in perfect harmony, with twinkles in your eyes...

Much love...xxx
Lizzie