Sick of Celebrities

I am so very sick of the celebrity culture we live in. I receive a magazine called Neurology Now, a neurology magazine for families dealing with neurological illnesses. I am grateful for the free subscriptions they give and the articles can be informative. But every issue features a celebrity on the cover - a celebrity who either has a neuro illness, or has a family member with one. It's always how so-and-so-celebrity copes with their illness or is a supportive caregiver to a family member. I'll tell you how they cope - THEY GET ATTENTION!! TONS OF ATTENTION AND SUPPORT AND PRAISE FROM ADORING FANS. Not to mention the tons of money they have to hire the best help and treatments.

I know that I would cope much better with my caregiving situation if I got only a fraction of the attention the celebrities get. I definitely feel better about myself and about my situation on the occasional days when I feel supported by others. But I and most of the country's millions of caregivers do not get much attention. We are sidelined and often isolated, feeling invisible. Not that I want to be on the cover of a magazine being praised for caregiving - honestly, I would be embarrassed. I just want to scream that there are millions of sick people and their caregivers who are not getting the attention they need; many of them cannot even afford decent health care.

So, I need to keep realizing that in God's eyes, I am as worthy as any "celebrity caregiver," even though I am virtually invisible to other people; and my husband is certainly as important as any celebrity with an illness although he also is invisible to others.

There - I said my piece - now I will return to my anonymity.