<human>: Can you provide a brief overview of the text?

We met in college and live about five and a half hours apart. That distance has been the bane of our relationship. I found a great job near my hometown after college that has been able to take care of us in a major way. She is younger than me so it took her an extra year to finish school.

After graduating, she had no real ties to home so we found an apartment in a location that isn't either of our hometowns, but that would allow me to continue earning a solid living and taking care of our major expenses. About 2.5 months ago (and a week after we signed the lease), her mom suffered a major stroke from an AVM. She has always been a perfectly healthy woman so that came as quite a shock to us all.

My girlfriend is now stuck at home assisting her mother during her recovery and she has become the main caretaker at home. All of the plans that we had have been disrupted in a major way. Now, we are struggling every day to find any kind of optimism in our relationship and future together.

I feel guilty for contuining (or attempting to continue) my life while she takes care of her family. She feels guilty for having plans to move out. I'm making a huge sacrifice by paying for all of our expenses and waiting for her, and she's now making a huge sacrifice in considering to move away from her family during their time of need.

What possible future exists for us here? What would you do/how would you feel if you were either of us in our respective situations?
<bot>: My girlfriend's mother has been in the hospital after a major stroke and she lives 5.5 hours away taking care of her. Where do we find the optimism to continue waiting and making sacrifices to stay together and pursue our plans?