True Story: I’m The Caretaker For My Disabled Sister

What would life be like if you were the primary caregiver for your sibling who had disabilities? How would you juggle those responsibilities along with your career and other relationships? Click through for one woman's story
What would life be like if you were the primary caregiver for your sibling who had disabilities? How would you juggle those responsibilities along with your career and other relationships? Today, Sebene shares her story.

Tell us a bit about yourself.

My name is Sebene Selassie.  I was born in Ethiopia in 1970 and raised in Washington D.C. from the age of three. I have also lived in Montreal, San Francisco and Guinea but have made my home in Brooklyn, NY for over twenty years.

For many years, I worked with children, youth and families in various not for profit organizations. I am a full-time meditation teacher and transformational coach.

Tell us a bit about your sister.

My older sister, Finot, was born with brain damage that resulted in intellectual and developmental disabilities. She has limited intellectual capacities — she can’t read or write beyond her own name and she doesn’t speak in complete sentences.

In fact, we came to the United States in search of educational opportunities for her, and my parents chose D.C. because of a special school they found there. A year after we arrived, a revolution happened back in Ethiopia that led to many deaths, including of many friends of my parents. Sometimes I wonder if we had not left, what might have happened to my dad or to us. Maybe Finot saved us…

Finot is a very positive, social and loving person. She’s really easy to be around and she loves meeting new people and having new experiences. She loooooves watching action movies, riding her bike, going to the beach and generally hanging out with people.

She is really good at word finds and puzzles. She does not have advanced intellectual capabilities but she is still a 50 year old woman, so she’s this interesting mix of childlike presence and elder wisdom.

Growing up, what was your relationship  with your sister like?

Growing up, I was the youngest of three. We have an older brother who is eight years older than me and he was having his own adolescent life while Finot and I were navigating living in an all white, upper middle class neighborhood (neither of which we were being black and not wealthy).

We shared a room and spent a lot of time together so I found myself being Finot’s main link to the outside world after school, on the weekends, or during the summer. We would ride bikes and play with the other kids and I made sure she got included in games and protected her from teasing.

It wasn’t unknown for our neighborhood “friends” to use the n–word or to call her a retard. I naturally took on the responsibility to care for her and I really did not give it much thought.

We moved when I entered junior high, and I’m sad to say that as I got older my adolescent insecurities made me self conscious about having a sister that was so different. I began to distance myself from her as I gained more autonomy and could go out on my own or with friends. I was never mean to her (I hope) but I spent less time with her and eventually went to college and moved out.

What would life be like if you were the primary caregiver for your sibling who had disabilities? How would you juggle those responsibilities along with your career and other relationships? Click through for one woman's story

Prior to living with you, where did your sister live?

My sister and mom started spending most of the year in Ethiopia about 20 years ago when my mom retired and they moved back to Addis Ababa  full–time 10 years ago (our parents are divorced).

I saw Finot and my mom every year when they would visit the U.S. for a few months at a time. And I tried to visit Ethiopia every few years. This meant I would spend intense amounts of time with them — usually weeks at a time. We also all three lived together for a year in D.C. in 2004.

Our mother passed away unexpectedly last November and after staying with me for a couple of months, Finot went to live with my dad and his wife in North Carolina for two months. That did not work out and Finot has been living with me and my husband, Frederic, since March.

When/how did you make the decision to take over your sister’s care?

I’ve always known that Finot would eventually become my responsibility and I tried to talk to my mom about preparing for that, but my mom was always trying to delay the conversations. I’m sure she had a lot of fear about that reality.

Your sister has been living with you now for six months. What has this transition been like?

When my dad offered to take care of her, I thought Frederic and I had time to plan for the future of this inevitability but that wasn’t the case.

We’ve had support from some of my mom’s best friends and from some of our friends in Brooklyn who have been super amazing about proactively volunteering themselves to be with Finot so we can go on a date or just get a break.

Sometimes we have hired a sitter for an evening or a day if we are both working or one of us is away.

How do you work caretaking into your life and schedule? 

Luckily, I can mostly work from home and Frederic is also a freelancer (he’s a cinematographer) so we both have flexibility in our work lives. And at the same time, sometimes I think if we had jobby–jobs we could simply find a day program for Finot and have her on a more “normal” schedule where we are all out of the apartment during the day and home in the evenings.

As it is, I often teach at night and my teaching schedule is all over the place, literally. I was gone for one month straight earlier this summer teaching retreats in Massachusetts, California and New Mexico and Finot had to go stay with my mom’s best friend who lives in the Bronx.

I’m scheduled to teach retreats this fall and will again need to find alternate care for her. I also do long silent retreats every year as part of my own ongoing practice; I was scheduled to do a month long silent retreat this October and now will probably need to cancel that.

What would life be like if you were the primary caregiver for your sibling who had disabilities? How would you juggle those responsibilities along with your career and other relationships? Click through for one woman's story

Have you ever tried or considered a different solution, something other than her living with you full-time?

The last time I saw my mom, last summer, we had a long talk about Finot and once again I talked to her about things we had been discussing for decades.

I’ve always wanted Finot to have a more engaged and meaningful life. She is very loved by family and friends but since she left school and the  job program she was in for a short while after she graduated, she has not had a community of peers or fulfilling work. She has been treated more as a child needing care and educating.

My mom never really had her do very much in terms of adult responsibilities. Since she has been with us she has been vacuuming, doing the dishes, and riding a bike again (after 35 years).

Soon all three of us will begin volunteering at a community upstate for adults like her and we hope that she will eventually live there full–time with visits home to us regularly. When we first told her about this idea, she was very upset about it but I asked her to trust me which she agreed to do.

We went to visit this place together and after her tour, she was super excited about the possibility of having a job, friends like her and living in a beautiful place where everything is structured to that she has the safety to move about on her own and engage with whomever she wants. She has never had that level of autonomy in her life and I want her to have that freedom.

What has this taught you?

At first I had the idea to send Finot to Ethiopia for the fall so I could stick to “my” schedule and then I realized that I was treating her like she was a problem I needed to solve. Caring for Finot is helping me rethink any ideas I had about my life looking or being a certain way. It’s also making me think a lot about what it means to “practice” — I am on retreat right now, this retreat is called “life.”

Thank you so much for sharing your and Finot’s story, Sebene! Do you guys have any questions for her?

P.S. True Story: I’m 26 and I’m raising my two teenage brothers

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17 Comments

  1. Charmaine Ng | Architecture & Lifestyle Blog

    That’s so kind of Sebene to take on the role of the caretaker of her sister! It certainly is so much better when the disabled individual has help from a close family member instead of an outside stranger. Thank you for sharing!

    Charmaine Ng | Architecture & Lifestyle Blog
    http://charmainenyw.com

    • Sebene

      Thank you for your kind words Charmaine. It feels so natural to be there for my sister; I guess that comes from a lifetime of caring for her. And, of course, that doesn’t make it easy. But she is really such a joyful and loving person, it’s so easy to want to be kind to her. Thanks for reading our story! xox

      • Kathleen Horgan

        I am in a 4 year relationship with a man that is caring for his sister. We are all in our 60s. He and I are a year or two away from retirement and I hoped to travel and find a future together. I admire his devotion but resist starting our lives together a threesome. How did your husband and you handle this commitment?

  2. Lesley S

    Thank you for sharing your story. I loved your answer to what has this taught you – especially your thoughts on what it means to “practice.” I hope the community you are looking is a wonderful fit for your sister. It sounds like a great opportunity. Best to all of you!

    • Sebene

      Thank you for reading Lesley! Yes, it’s so true. Sometimes I think we think we’re practicing to become good meditators, right? But we are practicing really to handle the hard stuff and (truly) appreciate the good stuff. And everything in between! I really appreciate you taking the time to write. xox

  3. Leah

    Thank you for sharing! Life is such a varied tapestry, and this was a good read for me to have this morning

    • Sebene

      Thank you Leah. That’s such a sweet message to get. xox

  4. Elaine

    I love these True Story blog posts! They are so interesting, informative & different from the sea of “Buy these, be cool” posts I see in other blogs. Keep up the awesome work!

    • Sebene

      Thank you Elaine. I love the True Story posts too! xox

  5. Lulu

    What a beautiful way to look at something that I’m sure can present many challenges as well as rewards. I admire Sebene’s meditative and balanced optimism. One of my favourite reads! <3

    • Sebene

      Thank you Lulu. It doesn’t always FEEL like meditative and balanced optimism, but I’m definitely trying to practice that! I so appreciate your kind words. xox

  6. Heather

    Thanks so much for sharing your story! I know I will eventually have to take on my brother’s care, so it’s encouraging to read how other families handle this. I’d love to know more about the community upstate that you mentioned?

    • Sebene

      Hi Heather. Thank you for sharing that you are in a similar place. The community is called Camphill Village in Copake, NY. It is part of a network of communities around the world. They are AMAZING and I would definitely encourage you to look into them. I can’t say enough good things about their philosophy and approach. They are NOT institutions; they are true communities. More here: http://www.camphill.org

      Thanks for reading and writing!

  7. Mona Chopra

    BEAUTIFUL! Also, quite amazing how Sebene didn’t even mention her own health challenges… I am awed by her loving compassion and grace. I love how she acknowledges it may be thanks to Finot that she and her family came to the US at the time they did, and possibly escaped real danger that erupted there soon after they came to the States. Thank you for sharing so honestly.

    • Sebene

      Hi Mona! So sweet to see you here. And thank you for your kind words. I so appreciate your message. Hope to run into you soon. xox

  8. Marie

    Beautiful story… I would also like to here more about Sebene and what a silent retreat is and how you “teach” a retreat… maybe another “true story”?!

  9. Anonymous

    Seb You gave me such perspective. Wish we had a nother type of health care SINGLE payer systerm and a mental/emotional /differently abled systerm with Camphill in leadership!

    Your perspective on dealing with the isms under this system have been inspirational also. If she is in the house and you are back from retreat and you’d like me to come by with Healing Energy/send distant let me know by text or phone….not this. I am sooo rarely on. I have something else to share with you …when we are offline…I will share

    GOOD inspiraton as to how to remain HUMAN under this poor example in usa of planetary sharing and caring!

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