I read fifty pages while somebody else cared for my husband

Dear Delyara, My husband has advanced Parkinson’s disease, and I became his full-time carer almost without noticing the exact day it happened. A respite programme now sends a trained carer twice a week for four hours. The first sessions, I stayed in the house explaining everything and checking whether my husband needed me. The worker finally said, kindly, “You know this does not count as respite if you are supervising me.” Today, I went to the library. I sat in a chair by the window and read fifty pages of a novel. Fifty uninterrupted pages. Nobody needed help standing, medication, buttons, water, the toilet. I did not check my phone for an hour. When I returned, my husband was fine and arguing with the carer about cricket. Quiet moments used to feel like stolen time. I am learning they can be scheduled, deserved, and safe enough that nobody has to become worse for me to rest.