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