The state of Texas reports that there are about 3.4 million family caregivers whose unpaid care amounts to approximately $41 billion.

More than 1 million of those caregivers— about a third — care for loved ones with dementia.

Jim Schock was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2018 and died on May 29.

“They called him the gentle giant. He was just such a nice man and he had such a good sense of humor and he had just this uproarious laugh,” Kathleen Schock said, smiling as she talked about her late husband of 54 years. “Caregiving is all-consuming and it’s isolating because you’re so totally focused on the caregiving.”

Kathleen Schock said the current economy made things even harder.

“Everything is so much more expensive. It’s crazy,” Kathleen Schock said. “The supplies are essential,

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