From the moment Jillian was born to her present age of forty-three, she has always helped her parents. She took the responsibility upon herself to be by her parents’s side day in and day out, out of her two brothers and one sister. Jillian juggles a million other responsibilities, like most of us, but she takes on the role of caregiver to the best of her abilities. Even though her parents were not the most ideal and rarely thought about her feelings first, Jillian puts them first and foremost after her own daughter. Jillian is a headstrong, stubborn and confident woman. Whether she would admit it or not, her greatest treasure and weakness would be her parents. Jillian was born in Fiji and immigrated with her family to the United States in…show more content… However, when Kimberly’s tongue becomes sharp, Jillian questions why the responsibility to tend to her mother is solely on her shoulders. If she could change one thing, she would like to divide the responsibility of caring for her mother across her three siblings. The sad reality of the situation is, Kimberly is likely to change her hurtful ways. She was like this from the moment her children entered this world and will exit the world the same way. Jillian does not think her relationship with her mother would be any different if she were a son instead of a daughter. Kimberly equally treats her two sons and two daughters the same…show more content… It is a lot of work, from paperwork to the stress of handling someone’s life and daily needs. However, it is something done out of love. I have even been fortunate enough to walk through Apple’s shoes and watch Kimberly and Jillian’s relationship blossom into more good moments than bad as the years pass. Jillian’s experience is similar to that of the participants int he McGraw and Walker (2004) study. Jillian and the participants of the study knew there needed to be a specific balance between freedom and control to have a good relationship while being caregivers to their mothers. The most important factor is that both the mother and daughter’s needs should be equally
