Diary of a Caregiver's Hell By: Just Joyce At the age of 3-1/2, Joyce became a foster child to Ethel and Blair Breitigam. They raised her on their Pennsylvania farm to adulthood. Little did Ethel and Blair know how their decision would not only change the rest of Joyce’s life, but have an impact on who would be there for them at the closing time of their lives. Ethel and Blair experienced 17+ years of progression through debilitating illnesses, frailty of body, becoming invalids, along with both of them having Alzheimer’s. Although these years seem to have been taken from Joyce, it has also been a selfless giving by Joyce to this man and woman she came to call Mom and Dad. With her real-world, down-to-earth, tell-it-like-it-is attitude, just maybe Joyce can help one or two caregivers out there who are finding their situation hard to deal with.