No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

My mother always said "No good deed goes unpunished".  And she was right.

I go out of my way to help. Some people, instead of being grateful, believe they can treat me like a doormat.  I helped my family.  I took care of our mother for over 18 years while my siblings went on with their lives. Maybe they thought that I had nothing else to do or maybe they thought what they were doing was so much more important. After all, there are no awards for taking care of your Mom and the pay was lousy.

I guess they didn't realize that because I took care of our mother, they were able to go on with their lives. They didn't have to deal with it. At Christmas, they would all gather at our mother's house for a couple of hours, eat a lavish dinner, open presents and leave. Sometimes it felt like they were there so they could cross it off their lists--they had done their duty.

But Mom didn't care. She loved having her family around. As for me, I wanted to cancel Christmas. It was so much work;  shopping, cleaning, putting up and decorating the tree. I guess I still feel that way.

I would end up tired, exhausted, stressed out and not in the Christmas spirit.  I don't think they realized how much work it all was.  After all, they were busy with their own lives and their own families.

I wish they could ask themselves what would their life be like if I hadn't be around to take care of Mom? If they had to step in to help?  Would they have to take time off work to take Mom to her doctor appointments? Would they come over on their day off to clean and do the grocery shopping? Would they have to pay someone to take care of Mom?

No good deed goes unpunished? Maybe so, but I did this for Mom, not my siblings. I  loved spending time with my Mom. I also would have been grateful for any help that my sister and brothers could give.

Now that she's dead, their lives have gone on much the same as before.  Except for one thing. They have discovered what they think is Mom's value. The jokes on them. Mom's true value is not the size of her estate, but the size of her heart.