Man shares glimpses of his life as a caregiver to his 97-year-old grandma and it's so wholesome

Chris Punsalan is a young man in his 20s and instead of hanging out with his buddies, he spends his time doing something much more noble. According to News ABS CBN, Punsalan is now a content creator and music producer who regularly documents his life as a full-time caregiver to his 97-year-old Filipino grandmother whom he lovingly addresses as "Lola" in their mother tongue.

Punsalan has taken up the responsibilities of his grandma for over 7 years now and he regularly documents his journey with her on social media. His Instagram profile can provide everyone much much-needed relief and inspiration. One click on their social media pages will show us the elderly woman going about her day following the daily routine with the help of her dutiful grandson by her side. She even shares some stories from her younger years and has some cute banters at times with Punsalan.

But behind the colorful videos shared by Punsalan, he has admitted that caregiving can be "extremely isolating." This is a job that can prove to be exhausting for the caregiver's physical and emotional well-being as well. But Punsalan knew that out of all his family members, he was in the best position to take care of his grandma and hence he took on her responsibilities.

“Everybody else was working and I’d rather just take care of grandma because she took care of me since I was a young boy and I don't want to see her in-home care,” Punsalan mentioned, per the outlet. The young man started vlogging with his grandma back in 2014 when the elderly woman didn't have enough mobility issues like she has now. Eventually, she started requiring full-time round-the-clock care and Punsalan stepped right in while making videos and memories with his grandma.

In 2019, he shot a video titled "Day In The Life Of A Caregiver" and shared it on TikTok which blew up on the platform. “I wanted people to see what caretakers go through and just to share what my life is like taking care of my grandmother,” Chris shares in one of his YouTube videos. “It had a million views. I gained like 11,000 followers and I was like, ‘What the hell is going on?’” I was so confused and overwhelmed with all of the nice comments,” Punsalan recalled.

“I had no idea that people would be so invested in me taking care of Grandma,” he continued, adding how the encouraging and sweet DMs he received on his social media platforms pushed him to keep making more videos with his adorable grandma. “The first couple years of me taking care of Grandma, that was probably the hardest because one, I saw how heavy it weighed on my mom,” he shared. “And two, it is just really hard to see a family member that you grew up with—knowing to be strong and independent—to see them become so dependent on other people.”

His tight-knit family even celebrated the 90th birthday of their beloved grandma with a lot of fun and more videos. Punsalan's family had migrated to America long ago and before that, his grandma used to be a public school teacher in the Philippines for 20 years. His grandma continues to maintain a habit of praying with her rosary each day and she is someone Punsalan looks up to. “My grandma is probably the most grateful person that I know. Anytime somebody helps her, anytime somebody hands her something, anytime something is happening with or to grandma, you can always guarantee a thank you at the end of it," Punsalan noted.

"I think it is what makes her enjoy life so much. She is grateful for everything. She can't move and she's bound to her bed. But because she's just extremely grateful for even the smallest things in life, it just makes her life more worth it,” he concluded. Punsalan continued to care for his grandma and film videos with her as his message boxes kept filling up with young people texting him how his videos inspire them to take care of their parents and grandparents when they get older because they don't want to send them off to a nursing home.