In an exclusive piece for Elephants and Tea Magazine, Kelly McMahon, Breathe Now Retreat program visionary and wife of Dear Jack Foundation founder Andrew McMahon, shares her perspective of becoming a caregiver at the age of 23 and the 16 year-long journey of survivorship that Kelly and Andrew have experienced together.
“Andrew’s cancer diagnosis had shaken me and awakened me to life’s fragility. For a while, every life moment we shared together seemed like I was collecting memories for safe keeping. Packing them away neatly so they could last me a lifetime in case our lifetime together was cut short. I found myself secretly taking pictures of his hands, his feet, his tattoos. If I eventually lost him, I wanted to be able to look back and remember the shape of his hands or the lines on his face when he smiled. I was struggling, but I was supposed to be the strong one, the caretaker.”
