The sentiment is usually true, though of course as we grow older and have families of our own, it can be difficult to drop everything in order to help out a loved one in need.
Sure, gestures of kindness and making oneself available to talk are things the majority of us can do all the time, but what would you do if a relative required you to give up your job, fly half way around the world, and dedicate your life to their care?
Fortunately the chances are high that you’ll never have to properly answer that question. Chris Punsalan, however, content creator and musician from the Philippines, did…
According to reports, Chris’s family live in Nevada, though his grandmother, 96, resides in the Philippines.
That set up worked just fine until his grandmother ran out of caregivers. Her family reportedly considered sending her to live in a care home, but Chris was prepared to go above and beyond, committing to a course of action very few of us would consider.
In short, Chris decided to uproot his entire life and move back to the Philippines in order to serve as his grandmother’s full-time caregiver.
Speaking to ABS-CBN a few years back, Chris said: “She took care of me and I would hate to see her go to homecare, which is where I feel most grandparents go in America.
“They go to home care because nobody is able to take care of them.”
Chris, who had already amassed a following online thanks to his work as a content creator, could hardly have envisaged that his decision would go viral. He opted to embrace his new journey in the best way possible, uploading videos including a typical day with his grandmother.
“To see her forget who I am sometimes and for me to have to remind her,” he revealed. “That’s probably one of the more difficult things because it’s a constant reminder that life is very fragile, and it’s very short.”
While Chris is living away from the rest of his family – and has undoubtedly sacrificed a lot to care for his grandmother – this compassionate young man considers himself fortunate to get to spend so much time with his elderly relative.
