How do you deal with the guilt?

When I visit the assisted living where my bro is, those who work there always tease me that guilt is what they deal with all the live long day. People feel their human limitations so profoundly. That is because they are GOOD people, because trust me, the psychopathic personalities out there? They don't care at all. They have not a clue how to feel empathy and pain. So you are a good person who is face to face with her human limitations, and it hurts like all heck. I dub you "normal". Go forth and be normal. Forgive yourself. Not everything can be fixed. You aren't a Saint. You are only a human. And clearly you are a very LOVING human being. When it hurts, let it hurt. Say "ouch, ouch, ouch" and cry. Let yourself curl up in a helpless ball of pain and depression and just feel it, and then move on. Look on both your feelings and your Mom's feelings as weather fronts that move through. Some are stormy, some are sunny. And that's just life.
I am sorry for your pain. Please allow yourself to feel human happiness in your own life. There are moments I have to almost physically pull myself back from thinking about it all and say "No! It isn't about Dee right now. I already thought about all that. It's about me now." Give yourself a bit of time. You deserve that.

How can you feel guilty when she adjusted so well. We Baby Boombers are between a rock and hard place. We must look to our future. We need SS and need to continue getting credit till we retire. Its not like years ago when there were no ALs and NHs were horrible. The wife was a homemaker and it was just a given that she would be a caregiver. Our economy is such that both people in a marriage have to work. You are lucky that Mom has money for her care. You have nothing to feel guilty about.

What, exactly, do you have to feel guilty FOR? For providing her a high level of care that you are unable to provide her in your home? For giving her a safe haven where she's fed hot meals & snacks every day, entertained with various singers and talents, given games to amuse her, taken on outings every now & then, and shown loving compassion by a team of devoted care givers? My 92.5 year old mother went from regular Assisted Living into Memory Care this past May. I don't feel guilty at all for either placement, because frankly, I am unqualified to care for her in my home. She is 100% incontinent, has moderate to severe dementia, afib and vertigo, has suffered a stroke, is wheelchair bound, and the list goes on. Hopefully you see the futility of feeling guilty for something you cannot control. Having your mother living in your home is untenable. Unmanageable. Not to mention unaffordable for 24 hour/7 days a week care givers to live in your home.

See this for what it is: the only answer for her safety & well being. Go visit her whenever you like and maintain the daughter relationship with her instead of the stressed out care giver relationship where you'd be frustrated quite often. Then you'd REALLY have something to feel guilty for!!

Best of luck!

Thanks. You guys made me feel a lot better ❤️❤️❤️