-
Jeff, I’m so sorry to hear about what you and your wife are going through. It is heartbreaking. Perhaps your wife is asking you to learn the guitar to find solace in creating music, so you are doing something for yourself as well? In that sense, whether you spend your time taking care of her or learning the guitar, you are doing something for her. I lost my father to cancer, and watch him fade away was an extremely difficult time for our family, especially my mother. There was no way to get through it without being overwhelmed by sadness and guilt because whatever we did, it was not enough. The only thing that would be enough is to make him better, which wasn’t an option.
It sounds to me like you are putting a lot of pressure on yourself to fulfill a promise in an already impossible situation. I think Albert’s advice is excellent: pick a simple, open chord song that you can sing with a simple, slow, down-stroke pattern. That will take the pressure off. If you like, you can send me a private message, and I will help you find a song.