Life After Caregiving: Heart Memories

In this episode, we welcome back a familiar voice from Season 5, Episode 1 — Grace Block returns to share what life looks like after caregiving.

She opens up about the transition from being a full‑time caregiver for her mom, who lived with dementia, to stepping into her next chapter. Grace reflects on the privilege of being able to take early retirement so she could be fully present during her mom’s final months, and how working part‑time in a casual role helped her stay connected to her own identity along the way.

After her mom passed, Grace found herself holding something she hadn’t had in years: time. A gift, yes — but also overwhelming and tinged with guilt. She talks about how the busyness of planning her mom's celebration of life, managing executor duties, and hosting family delayed the arrival of grief… and how she’s now allowing it in.

Grace shares the beautiful ways she keeps her mom close, especially through what she calls her “heart memories” — the photos she regularly sends to family, and the ones they send back.

With caregiving behind her and full retirement ahead, Grace is learning to fill her days with things that bring her joy: volunteering, painting, cross‑country skiing, and spending time with her new pup.

This is a conversation about identity, healing, and rediscovering yourself when the role that once defined your days suddenly falls away. Grace’s story is a gentle reminder that life after caregiving has much to offer as long as we're open to the possibilities.

(Thank you to Pixabay Folk Acoustic Guitar 138361)

Transcript

Speaker 2 0:00

Thank you for tuning in to the Island Treasures podcast. We value the insights shared by our guests and hosts. But it's important to note that their personal experiences are intended to inform and encourage, and not to replace professional, legal, or medical advice. With that, we are ready for today's exciting episode. We're entering a new season with a new direction. For years, we've walked alongside caregivers in the midst of their caregiving journey, offering resources, support, encouragement, and community. Now as we shift our focus, we'll be exploring what comes after caregiving. I'm your Alison van Schie, inviting you into conversations with former caregivers. Each episode features honest reflections on what comes next, stories of resilience, renewal, and rediscovery. And since the podcast comes to you from Vancouver Island in Canada, you'll hear the occasional episode that explores a different kind of treasure, local places and experiences that make the island itself something special. Whether you're navigating life after caregiving or simply curious about the treasures held within Vancouver Island, I'm glad you're here. Let's explore new treasures together. Today's guest is someone many of you will remember from one of our most heartfelt conversations. In 2024, she joined us for the episode called Expressions of Love Through Caregiving, where she opened a window into the emotional, intimate, and deeply human experience of supporting her mom through health concerns and dementia. Her reflections resonated widely and stayed with so many listeners. Since then, her life has shifted in meaningful ways. She's no longer immersed in the full intensity of day-to-day caregiving. And like countless people who transition out of that role, she's navigating the complex terrain of what comes after. The identity shifts, the quiet recalibrations, the unexpected emotions, and the rediscovery of herself. This chapter is seldom talked about, yet it impacts so many. And that's why we're talking about it here today. So please join me now as I welcome Grace Block back to the podcast. Welcome, Grace.

Speaker 2:59

Hi, Alison. Good to be back.

Speaker 2 3:02

Oh, it's so good to have you here.

Speaker 3:04

Hard to believe that that much time has gone by.

Speaker 2 3:07

I know. I know. I know. So we have to start with your mom passed away, and I'm really sorry.

Speaker 3:16

Thank you, Allison.

Speaker 2 3:17

Yeah. Almost 95 though. Yeah, she was an amazing woman.

unknown 3:24

Yeah.

Speaker 3:26

Yep. Yep. I miss her. I don't wish her back to any suffering, but of course I miss her.

unknown 3:34

Yeah.

Speaker 3:35

It is a new stage.

Speaker 2 3:38

It is a new stage. And you were very involved in her caregiving. Yeah. More so over time.

Speaker 3:45

And I think that is the story of many people, you know. My joy, my privilege was that I was able to retire before her toughest year, which was her last year. I'm so grateful that I had that time. And now it's been a year since she's gone.

Speaker 2 4:09

Yeah, that retirement thing too. That's that's a tough decision to make. And it was a a decision probably motivated by the fact you were full on caregiving.

Speaker 4:20

Absolutely. Yeah. I I I talked to my husband and I said that I just can't sustain it. I can't sustain that level of involvement. And I mean she was right up there. And uh so I was sixty-two, I think. No, sixty-four. I was sixty-four. And instead of waiting till I was sixty-five, I thought, why would I wait? I've got stuff to do. And uh over that year it became more and more uh of a full-time uh commitment to her.

Speaker 2 5:01

And needed, she needed you. Yeah.

Speaker 5:05

And it wasn't like it was it gradually changed, and my daughter Emily was very involved, as was my husband, and uh but mine was the daily, you know, phone calls. She won't take her meds. You know, she won't let anybody else give her a shower. Um she's confused or she isn't really grounded, you know, can you come? And I was a ten minute drive away. So I was there sometimes three times a day uh toward the end and I still was able to have her out and and uh and take her on, you know, out to the greenhouse and have a cup of tea, or you know, have her over to our house and set her up on the deck with her feet on in a in a lounger, stick her little sweet little feet sticking up in the air and getting a little bit of sun and petting my big dog and um oh, I have no regrets. I have precious, precious memories. And actually lately I've been sending a a picture of mom to my brothers on a little thread that we have going. Uh every day I've been sending them a another picture of mom from most of them were from that last year, really. Yeah, and uh it's kind of a way to keep her memory alive, so yeah.

Speaker 2 6:38

Well, one of my favorite pictures that you shared with me is I think you and your mom are sitting on a bench. Her walker is in front of her, and the picture's taken from the back, and it's so lovely. It's it felt mindful. It felt like you and your mom are just together enjoying the moment.

Speaker 6:58

Yeah, it was her bench. We called it her bench because there's a little park close to where she lived in the care facility, and uh there was a dairy queen like two minutes away. So our little thing when we didn't know what else to do was to I'd go and get her and bring her down and pop her in the car, put her wheelchair in the back, and um we'd go get an ice cream and sit on this bench, and just because it was right by a dog park and right around a little pond, so then she could watch the ducks and the birds, and she could watch people coming and going with their dogs, and you know, she she didn't have much inhibition at all toward the end. So she would ask everybody, you know, questions about their dogs and if she could pet them. And towards the end, we would just sit in the car because it was too hard to get out of the car. So we'd eat ice cream and watch the dogs go by, and um mom would make sometimes inappropriate comments about the people that walked by, and we'd have a little giggle and uh and the other day I was there with my new pup because there's a little dog park there, and it was the first time I'd been back actually since I had been with mom. And it really kind of hit me, and we walked by mom's bench, really her bench, but mom's we called it mom's bench, and I thought, wow, am I ever glad that we did the things that we did so that I have those heart memories.

Speaker 2 8:34

Heart memories. Yeah, yeah. Well, that's beautiful. So you got a new puppy in your life after caregiving.

Speaker 8:43

Little Oliver, six-month-old little terror. Oh, he gives me so much joy. Yeah, that has been a big part of this last little bit, having something again, when you put your whole I mean, not my whole life, of course I had other things going on. I was still working casual and involved with my daughter and her family and my husband and friends and stuff, but uh it does get to feel like your most of your energy is going towards that person that needs you so much.

Speaker 2 9:19

But um Yeah, so Ollie brings you joy.

Speaker 9:24

Hmm. I can love him and teach him and nurture him and laugh every day.

Speaker 2 9:31

That's good. It's very good, yeah. Laughter every day.

Speaker 9:37

Before I even get out of bed in the morning, I'm giggling because he's uh learning to vocalize from his little crate in our bedroom, and and you like the funny little sounds coming out of the corner of the room, and it's like he just wants somebody to love him, let him out and love him up, and yeah, that's good.

Speaker 2 9:59

So that's one thing you've done since your mom passed away. How was the transition um from when you were no longer caregiving? How did you navigate through your grief?

Speaker 10:14

Initially, I think I was almost kind of numb because you know, there's so many things to do right away, and I'm the only kid that lives here. Uh my brothers are all in Alberta. And so, you know, getting ready for her celebration service and you know, helping to get some pictures together for a slideshow and arrange, you know, music and arrange food, and um I put a lot of my heart into and my energy into having that service be um really about her, right? So we took all of all kinds of her paintings and we hauled them all over the church and put them up on all the walls, and uh she used to always take care of the seniors. Um she would help the seniors, you know, it at almost 95 she would help the seniors, but she didn't really think of herself as a senior, but she would do all of the table settings and make them the all the tables really pretty. So I tried to do the tables in the fellowship hall, kind of like mom would have, and um just have it be about her. And um initially I don't think they really understood how important that service was. I think they thought, you know, she's old. Um how many people even know her anymore? But the church was packed. Right? And I mean, especially when somebody is involved in children's lives. Like some of those children are grandparents now.

Speaker 1 11:55

Yeah.

Speaker 11:56

Right? And so uh especially one of the communities near Saskatoon, like half of the people that came were from that community where mom and dad lived for about seven years, many years ago. But they remembered mom as being in charge of kids men and uh teenage stuff, and you know, and lots of people came that mom, you know, loved up their kids and taught them.

Speaker 2 12:24

Yeah. Well, she impacted a lot of lives. Yeah, she did, didn't she?

Speaker 12:28

Yeah, yeah, she did. Still teaching Sunday school until 86. Like who does that, right? Well, your mom. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. My mom did. But so initially my focus was celebrating her life in a way that really was about her. And in lots of ways it was very meaningful to do that, right? And to gather people around Yeah. So that took a lot of time. And then of course, being the only one that lives here and people were at our place after, and um a lot of responsibilities around you know, the burial and um gathering afterwards and so that took a lot of time and uh and then you know, kind of getting all of her stuff organized and her room cleaned out and um and the executor stuff, you know, all of the legal stuff. It probably took about six months before I felt like that was kind of handled. So it's kind of a blessing in a way that you're busy with so many things. Um gives your heart a little bit of time to catch up with the big, big change. Because mom, I spent a lot of time with her. And all of a sudden it was like I should go see mom. Oh yeah, she's in heaven, I can't. Yeah. Or Christmas time. I gotta ask Mom about how you do this, blah, blah, blah. With the turkey. Oh right, I can't. Yeah. It's funny how those things kind of sneak up on you. You know, it's like a thousand little things that you shared with that person. The thing that's lovely is that especially Emily and my husband, like they knew mom so well that there always was somebody around that I could say, I could, you know, show them a picture or I could text Emily uh a little thing that we did together that remember when we did this, remember when we did that? And I started sending pictures to my brothers and stuff too. And every once in a while I kind of go back to that, you know, sending pictures, and they'll send me pictures too, right? And then we started a thread. Um and for quite a while we had uh kind of group calls. And it was really important. Family's really complicated, but really important when you lose somebody.

Speaker 2 15:02

Yeah, because each one of you is impacted by her passing.

unknown 15:06

Yeah.

Speaker 2 15:07

So it sounds like you were really busy and busyness kept you from feeling. And then all of a sudden after the busyness kind of diminished. That's when the the feeling started.

Speaker 15:23

Yeah, a bit of a uh there was something missing.

Speaker 2 15:26

Yeah.

Speaker 15:27

And it was that purpose. I mean, I think I was very committed to Mom having people understanding her, treating her well, giving her having her f have her needs met, uh, having her feel loved. And um you know, the funny things, some of the little things that I missed were things like when Mom was uh nearer the end and we would sit off and just sit quietly and I'd we'd hold each other's hand. We'd just sit, you know, not even talk. Emily was terrific at coming up with things that mom could do uh that were appropriate for where she was at, especially with the dementia and felt meaningful and not kiddish, but adult and respectful and around her interests and her love. But toward the end, I still I would love just to sit with her and hold her hand. Yeah.

Speaker 2 16:28

Yeah. Well, I love that you have found a way to work through the loss and work through her not being here by sending pictures, by sharing moments with your husband and your daughter and your brothers, just about, oh, I want to tell mom this. So I'm gonna tell you instead, because I need to. And you're keeping her memory alive. That's important.

Speaker 16:56

The other thing that has been kind of a surprise to me actually is mom was very creative and painted and was a potter, and she didn't just paint, she did oil painting and she did acrylic painting and watercolor painting and scratch art and like just about everything you ink and pen and pencil. I mean, so everything, right? And then when we moved her the last time, she didn't have room for all of that stuff, right? And so we set up her little room so that she had an area that was set up with an easel and and lots of books about watercolor painting, lots of uh stuff so she could do watercolor painting, and then you know, she never did it again. That last four five years. She didn't, she would have an unfinished painting up on the easel, and she would have all of her stuff, and she'd say, I think maybe next month I'll get back to that. But she would spend hours sitting looking through her books about watercolor painting and you know, highlighting and putting sticky notes and things that she was gonna do, right? And then when she passed, I brought all of her watercolor painting stuff home. I never ever did any of that kind of stuff. And um mom did that more solitary, it wasn't something that was a social thing, and she was a very meticulous kind of an artist. So she would find things that were very, very, you know, would take months to to make. And I always say about her and Emily, they look at a project and they say to themselves, I wonder how I could make that more difficult. And I'm like, I wonder if I could do that in an hour. Like I'm just so different.

Speaker 2 18:47

I get that. I I'd be more in your camp.

Speaker 18:51

I know that because I know you're so patient than me, but yeah.

Speaker 2 18:56

I'm what more patient than you? You are much more patient than the whole no, no, no.

Speaker 19:03

No, no, and I'm I'm seeing you, my friend.

Speaker 2 19:07

Uh I'm gonna jump jump in because I'm not patient with what are you doing with those watercolors now?

Speaker 19:15

Well, I started pulling them out and uh playing, and uh I I still was working casual, but I still you know had lots more time than I ever had had after mom was gone. And so I started to play, and you know, wouldn't you know it? Online, there's all these tutorials and all kinds of fun little things you can try, and you don't have to be good at anything, you can just play. And I've always loved color and I love whimsical things, and I do like creating, but I don't create from nothing. I usually look at a bunch of things and then come up with something that's sort of like kind of like you know, anyways. I started painting and I paint a little bit every day now, and I just get lost in it, and I love it.

Speaker 2 20:01

I love it. And I have seen your some of your paintings and they are remarkable. You are one talented gal.

Speaker 20:11

Well, thank you. I I am just delighted that I found another thing I like.

Speaker 2 20:17

And I love the connection to your mom.

Speaker 20:19

Yeah, that is cool. She'd be so pleased.

Speaker 2 20:22

And are you still using her materials?

Speaker 20:25

Yes. Yes, I almost have nothing new except I buy paper and I go to Value Village to get my uh frames for paintings and stuff, and just you know, what I love is to think of somebody and make something for that somebody and pop it in the mail or give it to them in a card, you know, for their birthday, or uh yeah, it's fun.

Speaker 1 20:51

I love that. It's cool. Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 20:58

And I did stay working casual over that period of time. Love little kids still.

Speaker 2 21:06

Yeah, so tell us then with what type of work you did, because the listeners may not remember.

Speaker 21:12

Yeah, I worked as a speech language pathologist in pediatric, so the little, little, little, so 18 months to five. And in my last job, I almost entirely, almost every time I would go in, would be seeing two-year-olds or younger with their parents. And um mostly assessments, not a lot of treatment, and you know, helping people figure out what comes next. And I have loved that. Now I just finished a month ago, so I'm totally retired. And now I'm I feel like I'm at a new stage. Even though I was two years just working casual, I had so much else going on. Now I feel like I'm really Retired. And I feel like I'm looking for meaningful ways to spend my time, new routines to take care of my health, uh, creative ways to be able to make things, create things. And I mean, I'm helping out at kids church uh with the little guys, and I'm looking for more ways to be with little kids in a volunteer kind of a capacity.

Speaker 2 22:28

So because that's where your strengths and skills are from your work.

Speaker 22:32

Yeah. That's my heart. That's why I picked that profession and enjoyed it all those years, because I love preschoolers, they're just fascinating to me. So when I get to volunteer, like the other day, I got to volunteer and just basically play with a bunch of little kids while their parents were in church. And um like I come home and have uh 18 stories to tell how amazing these kids are and what they said and what they did and how amazing that was. And yeah.

Speaker 2 23:05

I love that you said um you help um when you were still working, you helped the family decide what's next or figure out what's next. And here you are in your own life, in your own walk, your post-caregiving, figuring out what's next.

Speaker 23:21

Absolutely true.

Speaker 2 23:22

And you're doing a great job, like discovering a few really cool things along the way so far, and we're we're not done yet, Grace.

unknown 23:31

Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 23:32

Oh, and we bought cross-country skis, that was another thing. We've got some skins, you know, the kind you don't have to hardly do anything to them.

Speaker 2 23:40

Oh no, I don't, I've not had new cross-country skis for probably 20 years, so I know nothing about what's new in the technology of skis. So fill me in.

Speaker 23:49

Well, uh, the skis are shorter than what my old skis were like. I don't have to, I mean, only once at the beginning of a season we you do something with the felt part that's on the bottom, but you you don't have to wax them. You don't have to look at the temperature and see what wax needs to go on there and blah, blah, blah. Yeah, so we go to the golf courses and put on our skis and off we go. And yeah, so that's been a fun thing to do. I'm hoping to get um more into you know swimming and um in the summer we'll get out to our cabin and And that's new. And that's new too, yeah. Yeah, but I'm grateful that we got it before Mom passed, so we were able to get her out there before she passed. So we have those memories of Mum in a little cot in the cabin and sitting enjoying all of the fun that was going on around her and got her to the uh there's like a a day spa hot pool. Yes. Yeah, and got her there. So now when I'm there, I also have memories of mom being there too. Makes it even more special. So I guess actually there are a lot of new things.

Speaker 2 25:05

Yeah. You've been busy. Let's just say you've been busy, but you've also it's not the post her passing, it's not that busyness now. You've that busyness concluded, and now you're you're moving on to different things and fun things.

Speaker 25:22

I have the gift of time. I have the gift of time, and initially it was a little uh overwhelming to have time because I'm not used to having time. So at first I I was I felt a little guilty to have all this time because I shouldn't have all this time.

Speaker 2 25:46

Well, it's not that you shouldn't, it's that you're not used to having an abundance of free time, but no, your free time is full. Yeah, yeah. But it's full with things you want to do, things that give you pleasure. Yeah.

unknown 26:00

Yeah.

Speaker 26:01

That's different. It's not yeah, it's just it's just it is very new.

Speaker 1 26:06

Yeah. Yeah.

Speaker 26:08

I'm enjoying it. Like I I am enjoying it, and again, like I said, I I don't have regrets about how I spent the time with my mom. We made good use of the time we had together. She felt loved, she felt safe, she felt cared for, and we felt loved. And I mean, right until like a day before mom passed away, um, she still knew who I was. She couldn't open her eyes, but I'd come into the room and I'd go over and give her a kiss on the cheek, and she would open her arms. And I mean, I don't know what she understood, but she knew I was a safe person that that loved her and what a gift that was, eh?

Speaker 2 26:51

Yeah. Yeah, you always had a remarkable relationship with your mom, like a mother-daughter relationship to be envied, and it was lovely.

Speaker 27:02

Yeah, I'm very grateful.

Speaker 2 27:03

And you had her for a long time, and that was also lovely.

Speaker 27:06

That's very I'm very grateful. Yeah. Yeah. I got to keep her for a long time.

unknown 27:12

Yeah.

Speaker 27:12

And I got to be close enough that we could spend lots of just ordinary time.

unknown 27:19

Yeah.

Speaker 2 27:20

Well, you made that, um, you made that move strategically. You made it on purpose to to be close to her, like when you moved to Saskatoon. Like that was a planned move, but yeah.

Speaker 27:35

And then retiring that little bit early.

unknown 27:38

Really?

Speaker 27:39

I'm just so glad that I was able to.

Speaker 2 27:42

Yeah.

unknown 27:42

Yeah.

Speaker 2 27:44

So is there anything else that you remember that you've got? Like you got the skis, you got the cabin, you got the painting. Because if there is, oh, you got the puppy. Um, if there isn't, um what suggestions can you offer to caregivers who are nearing that transitional point in their own role?

Speaker 28:12

I think things tend to get busier and busier nearer the end of a loved one's life. And I'm not sure you can really think that far ahead when you're in the middle of it. But if you are able to even just tell yourself um, this is not forever. You know, I'm gonna just love this person, I'm going to be patient, I'm going to do what I can, 'cause it is not forever. Um, that can also help you to get through that hard end. Because it's never easy. The end is never easy, right? Saying goodbye to somebody that you love that much, or seeing them little by little, kind of you sort of lose them by inches. But then when you're done, that part, that stage, if you can be kind to yourself, you know, give yourself time. Uh talk kindly to yourself. Um remind yourself that you did all that you could and uh now it's it's good to build out have time for you. Time for other priorities that you didn't have time for before. I felt like when mom had passed, all of a sudden I needed to get to the dentist, I needed to get uh colonoscopy, I needed to go to make sure I got my mammogram, I needed to do all these things that I didn't have time for before because I was taking mom to her eye appointments and taking mom to the dentist and uh going to specialist appointments. And it's very, very easy to forget about your own health. And uh my advice to people is uh, you know, try your best to take care of you. If you don't take care of you, you don't have much, you know, in reserve to care for your loved one. And what if something happens to you? Like I can remember my mom saying to me, you know, she would worry about me. And I think that's just the mother, right? But you know, she'd say, I don't want you to get too tired, you know, how are you doing? I don't want you to get sick, you know. And uh some of that is of course that vulnerability that I'm sure you feel as you get older and have more needs, but uh that self-care piece and for those that are in it, even though it's hard, you know, it's a a good reminder, um, having things that that build you up, fill your cup.

Speaker 2 31:00

But the the medical appointments for yourself, like that sounds like you were bombarded with I've got to get my annual physical, I've got to get my eye appointment, I've got to get my dentist. I I've neglected my teeth, I've neglected everything. Um, it sounds like that filled a lot of that time right after your mom passed away.

Speaker 31:21

It was a big catch-up time.

Speaker 2 31:23

So the catch-up phase.

Speaker 31:25

Catch up phase. Even for catching up with girlfriends that I hadn't spent time with.

Speaker 2 31:32

You know. No, that's very good to share. So thanks for sharing that, Grace. Welcome. Did you ever struggle with the identity piece? Like you're not mom's caregiver anymore. Did you struggle with that, Grace?

Speaker 31:48

I think continuing to work casual really helped me with that part of that transition. Because I still had purpose, I still had ways of caring for others.

Speaker 2 32:00

Um and an identity.

Speaker 32:02

Yeah, and identity. I still was a speech pathologist, I still was a volunteer, I still was um my daughter has chronic illness and uh is like a lovely human. And so being able to know that I had a little more time and energy to support her journey was also good too. It was it was helpful.

Speaker 1 32:29

Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 32:31

She was very patient and gave a lot to her grandma and uh sometimes at her own expense.

unknown 32:38

Yeah.

Speaker 32:39

So it was nice for me to have some energy more energy for supporting her too. And she supports me, of course, as well. So it's a mutual care.

Speaker 2 32:51

Well, and she misses her grandma, I'm sure, but she also can now focus on herself more.

Speaker 32:59

Yep, and and she said to me too, like she learned so much in the process and it was just so meaningful to support her gram. Her grand knew she loved her.

Speaker 2 33:09

Beautiful. Now, before we conclude today's episode, what gave you the most hope moving forward after caregiving?

Speaker 33:22

Hard one, you know. That's a hard one.

Speaker 1 33:25

I think I felt hopeful.

Speaker 33:30

This might sound strange, but in loving mom and in seeing how she responded to that love, knowing that my daughter was seeing this part of it. And um I mean, maybe it's selfish, but I it gave me that sense that I will be also loved in that way when I am a senior. I am a senior now, I guess. When I'm an old senior and passing, you know, I felt like, okay, I was able to show my kids this is how you love somebody who is losing capacity. And I see them actually reaching out to others that are in our community that are older and loving on them respectfully, lovingly, creatively. And I I thought, yeah, it wasn't just about mom, it was also uh about my kids learning how to do that too. And uh I will, I'm sure, uh benefit from that as well. And I guess it did solidified for me to the things that are really important. Right. And you watch the news and you uh can easily become kind of negative and and yet, you know, really the things that are the most important um are treating people with love and kindness and respect. And um I saw how that worked in my family and it even solidified for me that really in my life moving forward, that is what is most important. That's what lasts.

Speaker 2 35:23

So the relationships that are right in front of you.

Speaker 35:26

Yep. Yeah, your neighbors, your friends, your people you bump into at Superstore.

Speaker 2 35:32

And the people you're looking to on the computer screen right now.

Speaker 35:37

Yeah, I do love you.

Speaker 2 35:39

Yeah, no, it's it's so good to have you here. And it's it's so heartwarming to have you as a a really good friend, Grace. And um, yeah, to have walked with you, seen what you went through with your mom, and to see you come through with such vitality and purpose now that you also had when you were caregiving, but it's so good to see that you have transitioned and are in a really good place. And I hope that that gives other caregivers hope as they move forward after caregiving.

Speaker 36:12

There is life after you have caregiven, and it can be very good.

Speaker 2 36:19

Yeah, and I think you've got a really healthy way of keeping your mom alive in your hearts, and I think that's a huge part of being able to say goodbye to that chapter so you can move forward in such a positive way.

unknown 36:33

Yeah.

Speaker 2 36:34

So thank you so much for joining me today, Grace, and sharing your story, sharing your revived and discovered passion of art. I just love that. And uh I'd love to be able to share that with a picture with the listeners. But um, yeah, you don't you don't have a a YouTube channel yet with all your artwork, do you?

Speaker 36:57

Oh no, I don't.

Speaker 2 37:00

Well, whenever you do feel ready to share it on a more public platform, I'm pretty sure folks will be happy to see it, Grace. Until then, I just want to thank you again for hopping back on the podcast, as it's been so good having you here today. Thanks for having me, Alison. As we wrap up today's conversation, I hope Grace's story offers a sense of calm reassurance about what life after caregiving can look like. She didn't stumble into this next chapter. She moved into it with intention, clarity, and a deep respect for the years she spent caring for her mom. And with the gift of time that has opened up for her, she's found such meaningful ways to stay connected to her heart memories. Painting whimsical watercolors with her mom's brushes and paints, visiting the bench they once shared, the one overlooking the dog park she now visits with her new puppy, and sharing photos of her mom with family members. It's a beautiful reminder that the bonds we carry during caregiving don't have to end. They can live on in everyday moments. Grace leaves us with a message for anyone approaching their own transition out of caregiving. Be kind to yourself, give yourself time, and speak gently to yourself as you enter the next part of your journey. Thank you for tuning in today, and to Grace Block, thank you for sharing your story with us. If you enjoyed today's episode, share it with your friends, especially those navigating life after caregiving. And if you don't want to miss future episodes, be sure to subscribe to the Island Treasures Podcasts. See you next episode!