Tej Pillai, 55, spent the last seven years making the 24-hour journey from Seattle to India every four months to help care for her aging parents.
Each time she traveled she'd stay with her parents for about a month, caring for them during the day, working east coast hours from 6 p.m. to 3 a.m. and sleeping for just an hour or two in between.
Looking back, she doesn't know how she did it. But at the time, it felt like her only choice.
Her husband and two daughters, who were in high school and transitioning into college, stayed behind.
"I missed some of their birthdays. I missed a few things. But, you know, what do you do? They were like, 'It's OK. Granny and grandpa need you,'" Pillai said, adding that her husband has been super supportive "through all this."
