Chapter 8 - She Had Been Sending People Away
The power logs lined up with something else.
Home-visiting sessions.
Respite-care shifts.
Vision specialist appointments.
Whenever an outside professional was supposed to be inside the house for long periods, monitor power interruptions increased before or afterward.
Again:
Correlation.
Not proof.
Then we found emails.
Shared family account.
Valerie had terminated our respite-care aide.
Dad thought the aide quit.
The aide thought the family no longer needed her.
Valerie wrote:
We’ve decided to handle things privately for now.
Dad had made no such decision.
Why did it matter?
The respite aide came twice a week for three hours.
She gave Valerie relief.
She also put another adult inside the house.
Valerie eliminated both.
That was the paradox.
She complained about exhaustion.
Then removed the support designed to reduce it.
The therapist later explained:
“Sometimes overwhelmed caregivers reject help because help also feels like scrutiny.”
That fit.
Not diagnosis.
Pattern.
Valerie wanted relief.
But on her terms.
Without professionals watching.
May you like
Without people correcting how she handled Leo.
Without anyone telling her the household needed to change for him.
