“When I was 19 years old, my dad suffered a massive brain aneurysm. At that time, my parents were separated, but not yet divorced. So, I became my dad’s guardian. I had to dissolve his estate. I had to divorce my own parents in court, acting as my dad’s representative. He’s been living in a nursing home for the last 16 or 17 years. When I think about my life, I come away from it thinking that I really haven’t had a lot of hardships compared to most people in the world. I’ve been really blessed. My life has been very fortunate. That’s like the worst tragedy that’s happened to me. There’s a lot of guilt and helplessness because he’s living in a place he doesn’t want to live in and there’s nothing I can really do to help him. I have high blood pressure. I’ve had high blood pressure since the time my dad got sick. When you have a dad who has an aneurysm at 49 you think a little more about that. I should be much more proactive moving forward. One thing that is important to me, from a mental health standpoint and one of the reasons we moved back to Eau Claire, is to be around family. There are studies that have proven if you live around a family group, your life expectancy is longer. I think for us, it’s kind of silly things like laughter, storytelling, having a network of support around us, and having a network that monitors your behavior and your social norms. So, I do feel a lot healthier living here than any other space I’ve lived before. Eau Claire is getting this positive feeling. It keeps perpetuating. It’s unbelievable.”