We Cared for My Mother in This House.
Now We Might Lose It.

Judith Sherwood’s Family Photos

The Year Everything Changed

In 2009, my mother became paralyzed.

None of us could have imagined that what began as a medical crisis would become a thirteen-year caregiving journey that would forever change the lives of our entire family.

Thirteen Years Under One Roof

For the next thirteen years, my family and I cared for my mother in the home where I grew up. Caregiving wasn’t an eight-hour responsibility. It was a twenty-four-hour commitment filled with doctor’s appointments, medications, sleepless nights, emergencies, and countless moments that required patience, strength, and unconditional love. Like so many family caregivers, we didn’t stop to think about the personal sacrifices we were making. We simply did what needed to be done because she was our mother.

A few years into our journey, my daughter, her husband, and their three children made an extraordinary decision. They moved into my mother’s home so we could care for her together as a family. What began as a decision to care for my mother became years of shared sacrifice, as our home became a place where caregiving, parenting, school, work, and everyday life all existed under one roof.

Their lives changed because of that decision. They left behind their independence and the life they had known, so they could become part of my mother’s daily care. Their children grew up in a caregiving household where compassion, sacrifice, and responsibility became part of everyday life. Together, we all learned that caring for someone you love is both one of life’s greatest privileges and one of its greatest sacrifices. Today, their son is preparing, we hope, to begin college, and their two daughters continue to receive support through IEPs at school. Caregiving didn’t just affect one person—it shaped an entire generation of our family.

Together, we became a multigenerational caregiving team. We shared the responsibilities, encouraged one another through difficult days, celebrated small victories, and remained committed to giving my mother the best quality of life we possibly could. Looking back, I realize caregiving wasn’t carried by one person. It touched every member of our family.

Saying Goodbye

When my mother passed away in 2022, we were heartbroken. At the same time, we found comfort knowing she spent her final years surrounded every day by the people who loved her most.

When Caregiving Doesn’t End

What many people don’t realize is that caregiving doesn’t always end when a loved one passes away.

The emotional impact remains, but so do the financial consequences. After thirteen years of putting our own lives, careers, and financial stability on hold, rebuilding has been incredibly difficult. The sacrifices made out of love continue to affect our family long after caregiving ended.

Today, our family is facing one of the most difficult chapters yet. Despite my work as a paraprofessional in a local elementary school and as a licensed real estate agent, we are at risk of losing the very home where my mother lived, where we cared for her for thirteen years, and where
our family still lives today. Unless something changes, the home that has been at the center of four generations of our family may soon be lost to foreclosure. It is heartbreaking to know that the place filled with so many memories of love, sacrifice, and caregiving could soon no longer be
our home.

Why I’m Telling This Story

I chose to share our story after learning about Bradley Cooper’s advocacy for family caregivers. Knowing that someone with his platform understands the realities of caregiving gave me the courage to tell our family’s story.

My hope in sharing our story is not only to honor my mother, but also to help others understand that caregiving changes families in ways that often remain invisible. It is an act of extraordinary love, but it can also leave lasting emotional, physical, and financial consequences that continue long after a loved one is gone.

If our family’s story helps even one caregiver feel less alone, encourages greater support for caregivers, or inspires meaningful conversations about the hidden costs of caregiving, then sharing it will have been worthwhile.

I later wrote The Paralyzing Truth, which tells the story of my mother’s paralysis, our family’s caregiving journey, and how our faith carried us through some of the most difficult years of our lives. My hope is that it encourages caregivers, reminds them they are not alone, and offers hope
to anyone walking a similar path.

Thank you for taking the time to read our story and for the work Well Beings is doing to give family caregivers a voice.

With gratitude, Judith Sherwood

Author of The Paralyzing Truth
A true story of caregiving, faith, and hope.