Six Hours Episode 5

Six hours isn’t enough—but what if it’s enough to begin?

In this final episode of the 6-Hours series, we follow Trina as she steps into a new rhythm—one where her limited time is used with intention, not just obligation. Through small but powerful changes, she begins to reclaim pieces of herself that caregiving had quietly taken.

But this episode goes deeper.

With real reflections, listener letters, and honest moments—including when six hours is unexpectedly taken away—this story reminds caregivers that perfection isn’t the goal… presence is.

Because even in the middle of caregiving, your life is still happening.

And what you do with your time—no matter how limited—still matters.

Transcript

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Welcome back to Take Care of Time, the Tales and the Exhales of Caregivers. I'm your host, Beverly Nance, in this series, we've been talking about something that sounds small on paper, but feels massive in real life. Six hours. Six hours that show up and disappear just as quickly. Six hours that are supposed to be enough time to work, breathe, to manage life, to remember who you are. And for many caregivers, it never feels like enough. But today we're not going to talk about what six hours isn't. We're gonna talk about what six hours can be, because sometimes the shift isn't in the time, it's in what we do with it. Let's begin. It is Monday morning in Miami. The kind of morning that used to feel rushed, tight, reactive, but something has changed. Trina stands in her kitchen, coffee in hand, watching Sam Jr. At the table. He's calmer now, settled into the rhythm that didn't exist, just weeks ago. His new room, his new backyard. His new routine, it's working. And when Sam Junior is regulated, Trina's world becomes just a little more manageable, ready to go. She asks gently, he nods. No resistance, no overwhelm, no scrambling. And for a moment, just a moment, Trina notices something she hasn't felt in a long time space. She pulls into the day program, six hours. That's what she's been given, six hours that used to disappear into stress, errands and exhaustion. Six hours that once felt like catching up, putting out fires, surviving. But today she doesn't rush. She doesn't immediately reach for her phone. For many caregivers, time away isn't restful. It becomes another kind of work, the kind where you try to do everything because you don't know when you'll get the chance again. And in doing that, you lose the very thing you need it most rest care you. After Trina drops off, Sam Jr. She heads to her bakery, she walks in. Not rushed. This time, not overwhelmed, intentional. Juan looks up, you look different. He says half smiling. She laughs softly. I feel different and she means it because over the past few weeks, Trina has started making changes. Not big, dramatic, unrealistic changes, small ones, but consistent Later. Trina gathers her staff in the quiet of the bakery when there's not too many customers around. The smell of fresh bread, just beginning to feel the room. She looked at them, not rushed, not overwhelmed, but steady. Okay guys, I've been doing a lot of thinking. She says her voice calm, but certain, and I realized I can't keep pouring from an empty cup. There was a pause, the kind that carries weight. So starting next week, I'm stepping back one day a week. I'm gonna take one day just for myself. I'll trust you guys to be able to run the bakery that day, Juan. nodded first. Then the others followed. A quiet confidence settling in Trina, smiled a little relieved, a little proud. I'm going to take time for me. Classes. Connecting with other business owners, just figuring things out and figuring what's next. And for the first time in a long time, it didn't feel like she was letting something go. It felt like she was finally choosing herself without letting go of everything she has built. For the first time in years, Trina sits in her doctor's office for herself, not just for Sam Junior, not for paperwork, not for emergencies. For her, the doctor asks simple questions, how have you been feeling? And for a moment, Trina doesn't know how to answer because caregivers learn to ignore their own bodies, their own needs, their own signals. But today she answers honestly, I've been tired. I've been tired for a long time. Later the same week she walks into the gym, not because she has time to waste, but because she has time to reclaim. She doesn't stay long. 30 minutes, that's it, but it's 30 minutes. That belong to just her later in the week at her entrepreneur group. She knows that something has changed, something unexpected. At first, she almost doesn't go. She seemed too tired. It was too much. It was too late. She was making excuses, but she goes anyway. And for the first time in a long time, she's not introduced as Sam, Junior's mom, the caregiver. She's introduced as Trina, the business owner, and something inside her shifts that evening. Trina sits in her new home, quiet, peaceful, different. She looks around not at what she lost, but at what she's building, and she realizes something six hours didn't change her life. She did. Six hours is not enough. Let's just say that out loud. It's not enough to do everything caregivers are expected to do. It's not enough to carry the weight you carry. It's not enough to fix everything, but it is enough to start. It is enough to choose yourself even in small ways. It is enough to go to the doctor to move your body, to sit in silence, to remember who you were before caregiving took over every part of your day. And maybe it's enough to begin building a life that includes you. Again, not instead of caregiving, but alongside of it. Because you are not just a caregiver. You are still a person. Still worthy, still here. Trina didn't change her life overnight. She didn't win the lottery. She didn't suddenly have more time. She still had just six hours, but what she did have was a shift, and that shift is something every caregiver can make no matter what the situation looks like. Because while not everyone can move closer to their job or redesign their entire life. There are changes, small intentional changes that can make those six hours feel different, more useful, more meaningful, more yours. And it starts with one question, what do I actually need from these six hours? Not what needs to get done, but what needs to be restored. For many caregivers, six hours becomes a race, errands, appointments, cleaning calls, and before you know it, the time is gone and you're just as tired as you were before. I've compiled tips, not too many tips, but just some tips to help you on your six hour journey and the number one tip. Well, they're not in any particular order, tip one is stop trying to do everything for many caregivers. Six hours becomes a race, errands, appointments, cleaning calls, and before you know it, the time is gone and you're just as tired as you were before Trina used to live in that cycle until she stopped, until she started doing something different. She chose just three priorities per day. Not 10, not everything. Three. Some days it was a bakery, a personal appointment, rest. Other days it could be groceries, a walk, nothing else. And that last one matters. Sometimes you just don't wanna do anything and it mattered more than she expected. Tip two, build your life around your reality. Not everyone can move into a home next to their business, but you can ask, what can I bring closer to me? Trina couldn't always leave, so she started bringing life to her, a small workout space at home, a chair by the window for a quiet moment, a notebook that stayed open on the table. She didn't need a full-time gym. She just needed a small space to exercise when she couldn't go to the gym. You need a place, a corner, a signal to your brain that says, this is where I come back to myself. Tip three, use your time in blocks. Six hours feels long until it disappears. Trina started dividing her time, not rigidly, but intentionally. Two hours of work, maybe one hour of personal care, one hour of life tasks, two hours. Flexible. What's flexibility? That's where the magic happens, because life doesn't always follow schedules, but it can follow intention. Tip four. Schedule yourself like you matter. Caregivers are experts at scheduling everyone else appointments, medications, needs, but themselves. They tend to treat themselves as optional. Trina changed that. She scheduled her doctor's visits, her gym time, her group meetings, and she kept them not perfectly, but consistently because she realized something powerful. If she didn't protect her time, no one else would. Tip five, leave space for nothing. This one is the hardest and the most important. Not every moment needs to be productive. Not every hour needs to be filled. Sometimes you just wanna sit and breathe. To exist without being needed. And in that space, you begin to remember yourself. Trina didn't become a different person. She became a more present one, not just for her son, but for herself. And that changed everything. Caregivers, before we close this chapter on six hours, I wanna do something a little different because this story, it doesn't just belong to Trina, it belongs to all of you. Over the past few weeks, I've been asking if you had six hours, what would you do with it and your answers, they were honest. Some were very heavy. And some were full of truth. I wanna read to you parts of some letters and emails that I received from caregivers who are actually just being honest. The first letter says If I had six hours, I would go to the doctor. I've been putting off a checkup for over a year now. Every time I schedule it, something comes up, but after listening to this series, I made an appointment. It's next Tuesday. That right there is what it's all about. Not perfection, not doing everything. Just starting and being able to go to the doctor is very important because how are you gonna take care of someone else if you can't take care of yourself? Letter two, this is from the one who misses herself. It reads, I used to love to read. I mean, really sit down and get lost in a book. Now, when I have time,. I just scroll or clean or sleep. If I had six hours, I would wanna remember how to enjoy something that simple. Again, so many caregivers don't just lose time. They lose connection to the things that once made them feel like themselves. And sometimes the hardest part isn't finding the time. It's remembering how to use it. Letter three, the one who is exhausted. It reads honestly, if I had six hours, I would sleep. I wouldn't clean, I wouldn't run errands. I would just sleep and not feel guilty about it. Let's say this clearly, rest is not a reward. It's a requirement. And if your six hours is spent sleeping, that is not wasted time. That is survival. Turning into restoration. Letter four, the one who is building. It reads, I started using my time differently. I blocked out two hours just for me. No chores, no errands. At first, I didn't know what to do with it, but now I look forward to it. It's the only time that feels like mine. Now, that's a shift, not more time. Ownership of the time you already have. Letter five, the one who is still waiting. It reads, my son is still on the waiting list for services, so I don't have six hours yet, but when I do, I think I'll just sit because I haven't had a moment to myself in years to caregivers. Still waiting, still holding everything together without a break. We see you. I see you. Your time is coming, and when it does, you deserve to take it without guilt and without apology. These snippets of letters, they remind us that six hours isn't just time, it's possibility, it's healing, it's a chance, however small to come back to yourself. Six hours is not enough. Let's just say that out loud. It's not enough time to do everything. Caregivers are expected to do. It is not enough to carry the weight you carry. It's not enough to fix everything, but it is enough to begin enough to choose yourself even in small ways. Enough to go to the doctor to move your body, to sit in silence to remember who you were before, caregiving took over every part of your day, and sometimes even though six hours don't go as planned. Just yesterday I had mine. I had my six hours, and then I got the call. My daughter got sick at her day program and just like that. Poof. My time was gone. No warning, no adjustment, just over. And in that moment I reminded myself of something that every caregiver already knows. This life doesn't follow a schedule. Even when we plan, even when we try, even when we finally start doing something for ourselves, it can change in an instant So if your six hours gets interrupted, cut short or taken away completely, that doesn't mean you're doing it wrong. It means you're living it. And that's why when you do have the time, however small, however imperfect, it matters. Not because it fixes everything, but because it gives you a place to start again, to rebuild, to reconnect, to care for yourself in the middle of caring for someone else. Because your life doesn't start when caregiving ends. It continues right there in the middle of it. And what you do with your time, even six hours, can shape, the life you're still living. Caregivers, your six hours may not look like Trina's, but they still matter. I started the take care time respite box because you matter too. Caregivers give so much of themselves every single day, and sometimes the smallest pause can make the biggest difference. The Take Care Time Respite B ox is thoughtfully curated to give you a moment of rest, reflection, and renewal right in the middle of your busy life. Inside you may find comforting items, meaningful touches, and general reminders that your care matters too. Whether it's a quiet moment with a warm drink, a simple activity, or just something that feels like it was chosen with you in mind,. Because it was this box is your time visit. Take care time.com to order yours today because even six hours deserve something just for you. Please note. That this episode features reenactments and dramatized details. While in most cases the exact verbatim dialogue may not be known, all dramatizations are grounded in thorough research and crafted to honor the stories shared to respect the privacy and confidentiality of the individuals involved names, and some identifying details have been changed. Until next week, take care.