I didn’t fully understand that until my 82-year-old sister spent nearly eight weeks in a Florida hospital. None of us imagined that trip to the emergency room would keep her in the hospital for eight weeks. About five weeks after my wife and I arrived in Maine, my wife looked at me and said something I’ll never forget. As Maine’s population ages and healthcare costs rise, we should recognize the enormous contribution family caregivers make every day. They are an essential part of our healthcare system, even though they rarely appear in budgets, reports or public discussions.