Caregiving Chose Me

Post:
I didn’t sign up for this.
Not in the way people think.
I didn’t go looking for a title, a role, a name tag that says caregiver.
But life, love, and legacy had other plans.

Caregiving chose me.
And I said yes.

I said yes to wiping tears and signing forms.
Yes to 3 a.m. fears and 3 p.m. medications.
Yes to holding my husband’s hand when he couldn’t hold mine back.
Yes to explaining hard truths to my children while still tucking them in with hope.

Caregiving isn’t clean or poetic.
It’s sacred and exhausting.
It’s watching someone you love lose abilities, and choosing to love them louder.
It’s laughter in the hallway one minute, grief in the bathroom the next.

It’s calling insurance companies and praying in parking lots.
It’s learning to advocate like your life depends on it — because someone else’s does.

People ask how I do it.
Some days, I don’t know.
But I do know this: caregiving has taught me how to love deeper, show up stronger, and sit with the things most folks run from.

It’s also taught me to rest.
Not because I want to — but because I have to.
Because I can’t pour from a broken spirit.
Because I deserve softness too.

And I created The Sweet Between to hold that truth.
To say: you are not alone.
To say: your care is sacred.
To say: you can still dream, even while caregiving.

This journey is personal.
It’s mine. It’s ours. It’s not pretty — but it’s beautiful.
Because love is still here.
And I am still here.

And that? That is holy.

With tenderness and truth,
Maya

It Started with Love (and Pressure)

July 2025

It all began with love — and a whole lot of pressure.

Not the kind of pressure that crushes. The kind that calls.
Calls you to show up even when you’re tired.
Calls you to dream even when your hands are full.
Calls you to build something that holds you while holding others too.

The Sweet Between started as survival.
Now, it’s sanctuary.

Maybe you’re here because you’re a caregiver.
Maybe you’ve buried someone you love.
Maybe you’re the strong one. The soft one. The seeker. The cycle-breaker.
Maybe you’re all of that at once.

Whoever you are — welcome.

This space was built to be real. To be rooted. To make room.
It won’t be perfect. But it will be true.

My story — our story — is still unfolding.
And this site will grow with it.
Right now, this is where I put the pieces of myself: the book, the store, the journal, the vision, the hope.
This is my offering. This is my breath.

So take your time.
Take your breath.
And take what you need from The Sweet Between.

Later will take care of itself. It always does.

— Maya