Well, actually a couple of days. But compared against my whole life, it feels like the twinkling of an eye, the flutter of a bird's wing, a single cricket chirp.

The specific event was a direct derivative of the side effect of a particular medication (Mirapex). But it doesn't matter what the event was; it really is not essential to know who was involved.

The general phenomenon is what is important; the liberation from self-imposed shackles; the refusal to share a sick world-view with your patient pays big dividends. No wonder health professionals maintain a clear distance from their patients!

I am a self-confessed enabler and I had allowed myself to become chauffeur, maid, nurse, whatever to an individual whom I believed to be seriously disabled. But when that person really wanted something and I refused to help, a miracle occurred.

He rose from his sick bed. He planned, prioritized, got the car to the shop to be fixed, packed, cleaned, cooked, ohmygoodness you wouldn't believe it. His problem wasn't an issue of incapacity, just ... what ... laziness? Taking advantage of a stooge stupid enough to enable the helplessness? Inertia?

Whatever it was, it is in the past, at least for my part. It may take a while for the point to come home to the other person that it's a new day, a new way. I feel as though I had been granted a new lease on life -- and believe me, I'm going to say it's a life lesson learned. I am so relieved and happy, I want to dance (okay, walk around more briskly).