Embracing Menopause: My Journey and Advice for Women Over 40

Guest Name

Caroline Reyes

Summary

In this heartfelt interview, a mother of four and grandmother shares her insights on motherhood, aging, menopause, and the importance of self-care. She discusses the lessons learned from raising boys, transitioning into grandmotherhood, and maintaining health and faith in midlife.

Key Topics

Motherhood and raising boys
Menopause and health management
Self-care and mental health in midlife
Grandmotherhood and family legacy
Building family values and communication

Chapters

00:00 The Journey of Motherhood
02:57 Lessons from Raising Boys
05:23 Transitioning to Grandmotherhood
08:24 Navigating Menopause
10:58 Healthy Masculinity and Parenting
13:31 Building Family Values
16:22 Communication in Marriage
18:57 Reflections on Aging
21:48 Legacy and Family Traditions
24:07 Thriving in Midlife
26:58 The Importance of Self-Care
29:48 Final Thoughts and Wisdom

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:04

Hello, beautiful. Welcome to MontLife, where we talk about everything from family planning to menopause.

SPEAKER_01 0:19

I feel so privileged to have five sisters. Between the five of them, they have a beautiful community of women willing to share their stories. Today we dive into the heartwarming and insightful experiences of a Texas family. My sister Laura Reyes' comadre, Carolyn Reyes, or Carolina. Join us as we discuss the joys and challenges of raising four sons, the transition to becoming a first-time grandmother, and the importance of self-care and open communication in marriage. Let's embark on this journey of resilience, faith, and family values. Thank you so much, Carolyn, for joining us today. Could you share a little bit about yourself and how many kids you have?

SPEAKER_02 1:11

Sure. We live in Corinth, Texas, currently, and I have four sons.

SPEAKER_01 1:18

Oh wow. What's been your favorite part about motherhood?

SPEAKER_02 1:22

My favorite part of motherhood, I think, is motherhood is the hardest thing I think you can ever do, but the most rewarding thing you can ever do. You know, just bringing people into the world and watching them grow and shaping them and molding them and, you know, learning along with them, I think is just, you know, I miss the days when my boys were, we were all barefoot out walking around the block and looking for lizards. I mean, that was, those are like, you know, precious, precious times, the little things. So I think those were my favorite, my favorite parts.

SPEAKER_01 2:04

What has raising four boys taught you about yourself as a woman? Um, that I am strong.

SPEAKER_02 2:14

We always um said, you know, in our house, God doesn't give you anything that you can't handle. And four boys is a lot. Zero stars, zero stars on four boys from the ages 14 to 24. Um, they it it is a lot, it's a lot of testosterone, um, a lot of challenges. A lot of times that's when mental health issues start, you know, becoming apparent when they're in their teen years. And it was really difficult. But they you do just learn so much. I mean, I was able to handle it all. So that is what I feel like it taught me about being a woman that I'm strong and I can I can handle pretty much anything. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 3:01

Si se puede, yes. What do you think moms of boys need more support with?

SPEAKER_02 3:12

I think it's very easy to say, oh my gosh, look, I brought this, you know, boy into the world and he is gonna grow and grip, you know, do great things. And I don't think you're prepared for the minutiae of the the activity level and the constantness and the chaos. We also had a wow, that is a lot of joyful noise, son. You need to take that outside. And when you multiply that times four, it's noisy, it's chaotic. There's always a lot going on. And there was also a lot of, you know, beyond the joyful noise. If I read an article that said you say no to your young child once every seven minutes. Nope, you can't do that. Nope, you can't do that. But if you divide that by four, you're saying no every minute and a half. And it's a lot. It's a lot, you just have to, you know, be on top of it. And I think people don't realize that.

SPEAKER_01 4:19

Yes. I could only imagine the chaos of raising four boys. What is something that you would tell your younger self, young your younger boy mom self?

SPEAKER_02 4:34

I would say I would tell myself um to take more time for self-care. It's so easy to get wrapped up and you're exhausted. So you're going all day, half the night, and I wish that I would have advocated for myself more. You know what? I'm not doing that. I'm gonna do this over here for me, or I need this 15 minutes or this hour of quiet time. And I think I could have been more patient with, you know, just the chaos if I had taken more time for myself.

SPEAKER_01 5:16

I appreciate you saying that because we just had Laura Reyes, my sister, on and she advocated for self-help as well. And Belinda Ojeda, we had her on the first one of the first episodes, and she also said self-help as well. So that's the common theme here is having to remind ourselves to take that time. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 5:39

And if you, I'll say what I always say is if the wheels come off of your struggle bus, the whole family goes down. So if you're not taking care of yourself and you are such a critical cog in the family, then your whole family will suffer. So really, you're doing, you're taking care of yourself for the good of your family. And I think if more women looked at it that way, it would be, they would be more inclined to do it.

SPEAKER_01 6:09

Well said. Well said. Thank you. Now I know you've transitioned into being a first-time grandma. Yes. How did motherhood shape your identity and how is that identity changing now?

SPEAKER_02 6:26

I think I was, I'm a very opinionated mom, and I always had an opinion. And I would tell you, you know, hey, nope, uh, that's not how it's gonna run here at this house. And I think it's been very difficult to pull back and let them make their mistakes and let them just learn by doing. I think that's invaluable. Learning by doing. I mean, being a grandpa grandmother teaches you a different level of patience where you're just really, hey, you know, this is gonna happen with or without me. So I want it to be with me. I want to be part of their family and have the extended experiences. And to do that, you know, you just need to be patient and let that family come to you. And I think because she is not my daughter, my daughter-in-law, she is beautiful and wonderful and spectacular, but she has her own mother and her own opinions and her own things that she values. You know, sometimes we don't share this that's common bond. And I try to be very mindful of her space and her wants and her needs, and just, you know, try to ask, hey, what can I do for you today? How can I help you today? And if it's just pray for you today, that's great.

SPEAKER_01 7:56

I appreciate that as well because when we are first-time moms and we have our mother-in-law in the picture, it could be overwhelming as you know, as you've had that experience yourself. So having that perspective really helps keep that, keep that in mind as we transition, or for those of us who transition into being first-time grandmothers.

SPEAKER_02 8:27

Absolutely. It's, I mean, that's for something I would say is just be quiet. You know, be quiet and listen. It's important to be quiet and listen to your children. It's really important to be quiet and listen, you know, to your grown children. And they will come to you and ask, you know, and then then you can give them your honest opinion. But until they come to you and ask, just smile. Just smile. What kind of grandmother do you hope to be? Uh unconditionally loving. I I hope that they can come to me and know that I will always be there. That, you know, that's I think an important role to be, you know, unconditionally accepting, unconditionally loving, because it's not my role to discipline my grandchild. It is my role to love my grandchild and their parents' role to discipline them. I'm not saying that they can, you know, jump off and break everything in my house and, you know, cause chaos, but I want them to know that I will always be there.

SPEAKER_01 9:39

I feel like there's a point where you have to transition and trust your parenting as your children become parents.

SPEAKER_02 9:49

Absolutely. Absolutely. As you're, I mean, you're not advocating for your child at that point. You become a grandparent, you're advocating for your grandchild. So if I saw something that I really thought, hey, in five more seconds, we're gonna have a problem, uh, I would say something. But if I know that this is part of growing up and my children did the same thing, and and there's 12 different ways to parent through that, I'm gonna trust that my kids figured that out or will figure that out, or if they want my opinion, they'll ask me for it. But they're gonna make the right decision because I parented them to be able to think of the right decision and make it. But mostly it's just about being patient.

SPEAKER_01 10:46

What memories have surfaced since becoming a grandmother?

SPEAKER_02 10:50

All of them. All of them. There's, I mean, there isn't anything that, you know, my grandson's only eight months old now. But every, you know, every time he pulls up on something, I remember. Every time he spits up on me, I remember every time, you know, he toddles or walks or says dad, da, da, or whatever they do. You remember everything. It was very surreal to me to hold him for the first time because he looks exactly like my son. So my grandson looks exactly like my son when he was a baby. It's ray's genetics are no joke. And we to hold him and look at him and smell him, and he looks like my baby, and he smells like my baby, but he is not my baby was very weird.

SPEAKER_01 11:44

I feel like as women, we go through so many different transitions in our lives. You transitioned recently into being a new grandmother, and you've also gone through the transition of menopause.

SPEAKER_02 11:57

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 11:57

When did you realize you were entering menopause?

SPEAKER_02 12:01

I will say that I was very late to come to the party. I just know all of these things looking back. So I believe I started menopausal symptoms when I was 40. And part of the symptoms are obviously a change in your hormones, and my hormones were changing. I never went to the doctor, I never did anything. I was just like, oh, this is the way that it is. This is the way I was very accepting. And I finally went to the doctor for I had very heavy bleeding, and I went to the to a doctor for that, and I mentioned, and by the way, I haven't slept for five years. And so you, I mean, it's amazing when I said that out loud. I was like, huh, I haven't slept for five years. And that'll be like more than five hours at a time. Very difficult going to sleep, very difficult staying asleep. It was very difficult. Well, that's hormonal. And the bleeding, also hormonal. And when you have to go on vacation and part of your bag is taken up with things that can control your flow and they don't make anything big enough or good enough, you don't have to suffer through those things. Go to the doctor early. I cannot stress to any woman out there, if you are experiencing symptoms and to yourself, you're going, huh, this is really terrible, but I guess this is the way it needs to be. Does not need to be that way. Go to the doctor. Go to get to the endocrinologist. They can do a test right there, a blood test, and say, Oh yeah, you're in menopause, or oh no, you're not. Let's figure out what's going on. I have a wonderful endocrinologist that was really able to help me and really help my sleep. I will also tell you as you're getting older and going through menopause, exercise is critical. It helps so many symptoms. So many. It helps you mentally, but the physical symptoms of I'm tired, I'm starting to suffer bone loss, I'm starting to do this, I'm starting to do that. All of those things can be helped or controlled with exercise. It makes you sleep better. It's it is exercise is as important to me as diet and seeing the doctor for any other symptoms.

SPEAKER_01 14:34

Thank you for mentioning that because when we had my sister Violeta on, she was talking about exercise during pregnancy. I know I mentioned it in one of the early episodes as well. And here you're talking about it even through menopause. And so we're hearing a common theme of number one, taking care of yourself, self-care. And number two, exercise and the importance of maintaining that rhythm of exercising.

SPEAKER_02 15:05

Well, and one other thing I think that exercise does that is critical that I was completely unprepared for is your pelvic floor. Your pelvic floor changes, it loosens. You've had all these children. For me personally, I've had I had four children vaginally, and there was a a big change. And you know what pelvic floor exercises are? Yoga. I mean, it is stretching, it is moving, it is tightening, it is doing bridges, doing lunges, it is jumping. I mean, when you get to 45 and then you can't jump because you're not wearing a pad and you're afraid you might leak. I mean, guess what, girls? That's not normal. Do something for that. I mean, it's not just the way it needs to be. Go do something for that. And you know what they'll tell you to do? It's exercise. It's not a pill, it's not a surgery, it's exercise.

SPEAKER_01 16:02

What is something that you wish more women spoke openly about regarding menopause?

SPEAKER_02 16:09

I think I think just symptoms. I think people are embarrassed of their symptoms. And I mean, you know, you don't say, I'm sorry, they don't make a tampon big enough for that. You know, I'm sorry they don't, you know, I can't do that because I'm gonna pee. Don't make me laugh. I'm gonna pee, you know, or I feel terrible. I I don't feel good, I'm not sleeping, I'm sad, my relationship emotionally with my husband is changing. I don't feel as connected to him anymore because the sex isn't as prevalent. All of those things I kind of wish people would talk about more because they it's important and you can feel alone or something's weird or different with me. And it doesn't have to be that way.

SPEAKER_01 17:07

Statistics have told us that as women enter into menopause divorce rate spike. How has menopause affected your marriage and what have you done to help reconnect?

SPEAKER_02 17:25

So, I mean, I think at that time in your life, you know, I don't, I'm not familiar with the menopause statistic, but I will just say marriages end because people feel taken advantage of. Whether it's you, I do everything in this family, my husband doesn't do anything, or your husband. I support this family totally, and my wife doesn't even want to have sex with me anymore. I mean, there's there is something missing. You have to be effortful in your marriage. And there's a lot of a common thing is die to self. So do you want to be divorced and the sole supporter of your family, or do you want to say, I am just gonna do that? Because even though I don't want to, I know it's important to my husband and I'm gonna do it. I don't want to do it, whatever that thing is, have sex, clean the kitchen, do a load of laundry, go pick up his favorite ice cream. It's an effort to do the thing because you are tired. I feel like a lot of times maybe you naturally do that thing, whatever it is, go get the ice cream, have the sex, and then your husband doesn't do anything to you in return. And then you're like, I'm doing all of the things and he's doing nothing. So it requires open communication, it requires talking about it. Hey, I feel sad, pitiful, mad when you blah, blah, blah, or when you don't blah, blah, blah. And you have to pick those times that you have those conversations, not when you're sad, pitiful, or mad. Because then it just becomes all about the emotion. Just communicate, I think, what you're feeling and and how you're changing. And I think if you have a marriage where you have communicated openly about a lot of different, I mean, that's for better or for worse. And menopause is worse. Having four boys with testosterone and your husband in the house, that's a lot. I mean, so you have to talk about, you know, it scares me when this happens. It scares me when I feel this way. I don't, you know, whatever it is, you've got to talk about it. You know, start now, start early, start young. How has healthy masculinity been modeled for your sons? I was so amused by this question that I asked all my sons, how do you feel like healthy masculinity was modeled for you? And they all started laughing. It took me a while to just think about that question. Like healthy masculinity, what does that even mean? I think that means a very different definition for women, for men, for families, for children, for I would say healthy masculinity in our marriage, in our family, was modeled by my husband being present, being consistent, being loving, being um he was and letting me do things. He never said, woman, go fix that toilet. I said, you know what, babe, I know you're busy. Before we call the plumber, I'm gonna go fiddle with this and watch a YouTube video and see if I can do it. So my boys saw me do that a lot because my husband worked a lot. So I think there were in some ways the roles were very defined in a traditional, you know, household that you would think the woman does this, the man does that. But in other ways, the woman did a whole lot of this over here, and they saw that, you know, women can do anything. Cause I basically did everything. I mean, if it could be done, and if a man could do it, I could do it. I mean, it's not rocket science to clean the gutter. You just gotta get up on a ladder and clean the gutter. So, you know, and and there was also a lot of I taught my children very young to cook, so they They're all very good cooks. They're actually two of them are better than me. And and I'm a pretty good cook. So they um, you know, they they learned very early on, hey, we're gonna do this and this is how it goes. And so that that question was difficult for me because I'm like, I don't know. I don't know the answer to that.

SPEAKER_01 22:22

It's all about perspective, right? It's all about perspective. And I think you answered that so beautifully. It was great that you asked your sons because it gave them an opportunity to reflect as well on their upbringing and possibly reflect on their relationship as well, their respective relationships. And you said two of your sons are better cooks than you are. So that's such an advantage that they bring to the relationship, just seeing the communication between you and your husband, seeing how loving he was, seeing how present he was. And it helped all of that combined helped mold them into the men they are today.

SPEAKER_02 23:03

I I agree. I mean, our we always said, you know, dads don't leave. Um, the if you're gonna be here, uh, I'm gonna be here, I'm gonna do whatever it is. And he did, he sat through a lot of hard experiences that we had as a family. Their father was present and he was there and held their hands when they cried and held their hands when they cheered. And, you know, I I just think with the divorce rate being as high as it is now, I just, you know, wish so many boys had that experience.

SPEAKER_01 23:41

What conversations do you believe mothers must have with their sons today?

SPEAKER_02 23:47

Um, I think I would go back to the dads don't leave conversation that you know, pick wisely. And this is probably geared to your adult son. So for our young boys, we had a family motto. So pick, pick your family motto. What are you gonna live by? You know, your your ride or die words, you know, when things get hard, what what are you going to reflect back on? And you know, for us, it was um, we would tell the truth, you always tell the truth. And then when my boys turned 13, it was keep it in your pants. And I that and you ask any of my children, and they will tell you that is exactly what it was because we we are Catholic and we advocated for abstinence. I'm not an idiot. I know not all my children abstained from sex, and we talked about sex a lot, but you know, it takes two to make a baby, and you can't enter into something so lightly and then say, I'm all done. I don't want to be your boyfriend anymore. Sorry you have a baby. That's not how the that's not how we brought our children up, and that's not the values we wanted to promote, and we talked a lot about that when the boys were old enough to talk about sex. So, I mean, I think it's important to have something, yes, you always tell your children you are smart, you are strong, you are brave, you are kind, you know, you be truthful, you be these, you know, all of these things that you wish for your children, but you also be present. And those moments of sexual gratification are fleeting, and a baby is forever.

SPEAKER_01 25:46

I love what you said about your family motto and building a family motto. I really want to highlight that. That is a is great advice for those of us listening. And if we may be going through something as a family at the moment, building and creating that family motto is excellent. Excellent advice. Thank you.

SPEAKER_02 26:07

Have your children participate in that because once again, your family motto can change, you know, from young children to old children, but they children remember, they listen, they're paying attention, even if they're not looking you in the face, they are hearing what you are saying. Just, you know, repeat it.

SPEAKER_01 26:29

What has this season taught you about letting go?

SPEAKER_02 26:37

Trust, I think there's a there's a lot of, you know, trust. I have to trust that I did as much as I could for right or for wrong, for better or for worse, you know. I I was there and I just had to trust and believe. We are Catholic and I do a lot of praying. And there's a mantra that says, believe, Lord, I believe, Lord, help my unbelief. So there are all these times when I doubt what's going on, you know, help my unbelief. Make me be okay that I did, even if I did it wrong, I did it with a loving heart. And, you know, either help me fix it or just help me let it go.

SPEAKER_01 27:24

What is it that you are grieving or celebrating during this time?

SPEAKER_02 27:31

I think I'm fortunate that I am healthy. My children are healthy. We are in a good spot as a family. I I can't say that I'm grieving anything other than maybe I didn't pay closer attention to my mother when she was alive and ask her more questions. I think some of the things she could have brought an insight to me would have helped me be a better mom. But I'm celebrating, you know, my health, my family, our togetherness, you know, the next generation that's coming. And we just I I feel very blessed. How old were you when you lost your mom? Uh, 2017. So almost 10 years ago. So I was 48.

SPEAKER_01 28:21

You were 48. And were all the boys out of the house at that point? Or how old was the youngest one at that point?

SPEAKER_02 28:29

Oh my gosh, Sonia, you're gonna do math. I know. I think he was a teenager, so maybe um 10 years ago, he's 26 now, so he was 16, 17.

SPEAKER_01 28:44

How did that experience affect your parenting having lost your mom at that stage versus your older boys?

SPEAKER_02 28:55

Um, I don't I at that time in our life, I lost my mother. She had early onset dementia. So she passed away when she was exactly 70. But at that particular time, we were going through a lot as a family with mental illness with my son, and he's bipolar, and we were really discovering what that meant and how to parent and how to support. And so my youngest boy, I don't think, I mean, we all grieved, but I would tell, I guess, listeners, you know, when somebody with Alzheimer's or dementia passes, you lose them twice. You lose them the first time when they are in the you know throes of their decline, and then you lose them again when they die. So my my my parenting didn't change, and my children didn't, I mean, they remember my mother from when they were younger, but as an older, you know, woman with dementia, they don't, you know, they just didn't know her then.

SPEAKER_01 30:12

You are the second person who's shared that with me in that you do lose your parent twice.

SPEAKER_02 30:22

Yes, because it is absolutely 100% true. They are not the person that you grew up with for sure, but they're they just, you know, they change. It's a cognitive decline and it is horrible to experience.

SPEAKER_01 30:36

Do you feel more confident now than you did in your 30s and 40s?

SPEAKER_02 30:43

100%. 100%. Uh, I think you come to a time in your life where you are able to make the choice. Do I care about that? Is that really important to me? And a lot of that is people's opinions, people's perspective, people's. I am an opinionated person. As an older person, as almost 60, I can also see the value and silence and being quiet. And I I don't know, it inspires a lot of confidence because I've done all that and I can watch you do it. And if you want my opinion, I'll tell you you're doing it wrong. But other than that, it's is very freeing to be older and not care.

SPEAKER_01 31:28

What legacy do you hope to leave your sons and grandchildren?

SPEAKER_02 31:34

I hope that my sons and grandchildren feel the, you know, just the pride and the joy and the love that, you know, my husband and I bestowed upon them makes me emotional. But mostly just the gift of family, the gift of faith. I mean, we try to have a family dinner once a week where everybody joins. We try to, you know, we try to talk about our faith. My children, none of them attend church. They all grew up Catholic, but we still talk about it. It that was another obstacle for us to come to the realization that their covenant with God is their own. It's not mine, it's their own. And they'll get there when they get there or not. And, you know, that also is something that I pray for, but it's it's freeing too. To you don't need to control that. It doesn't need to be a sticking point or uh something that you can't talk about at the table. It's it's not my business, it's their covenant.

SPEAKER_01 32:51

What does thriving in midlife look like to you?

SPEAKER_02 32:56

I think if you're thriving, you are healthy. You are taking steps to make yourself healthy. So you are working on your mental health, you are working on your physical health, and you are if you're blessed with your family, you're doing the same for your family.

SPEAKER_01 33:18

If you could normalize one conversation for women over 40, what would it be?

SPEAKER_02 33:25

I feel like it would be that you're getting educated about the world around you. You're getting educated about your body, about yourself, about your children and their challenges. And you're not making excuses. You know, I can't do that. I don't have time, I'm too tired. You're you're creating a support system for yourself so that you don't have to make the excuse. You can reach out, you can get the information. We live in a time where you can Google the answer to that. And the Google answer is probably pretty dang close to the real answer. So it's a great jump-off point. And to be able to have that is priceless. To be able to say, what are the steps that I need to be taking for my son who was just diagnosed with ADD? Wait, do I know that my son was diagnosed with ADD? How do I figure out to get him diagnosed with ADD? How do you do these things? There's no excuses. Don't make an excuse. Don't say boys will be boys. That's an excuse. Nobody says girls will be girls. No, they make an excuse for that is the way my son is. My grandmother told me, hey, I said, Grandma, how do I know if this is the right man for me? She said, when you have a son and he'll be just like him, is that what you want? Is that what you want? I love that. Right. And I said, Huh, maybe, you know, but it makes you think. It makes you think about, you know, it is it is a legacy. It is a it's a choice, it is something that you can control to a certain extent. But I just I would just say learn about what's going on with your body, with your family, with the world around you. Don't be passive. You know, figure it out. If your son is the only person hiding under the bleachers when the baseball game's about ready to start, that is a sign of a bigger problem. It's not, oh, he's shy. He's the only one under there. If your son can't hit the baseball and makes a weird little eye motion, hey, guess what? He needs to go see the eye doctor. If your son's being bullied or is a bully, boys won't be boys.

SPEAKER_01 36:03

Figure out why. What do younger women misunderstand about aging?

SPEAKER_02 36:08

That it starts when you're younger. I think younger women take advantage or just assume that hey, it'll be fine, I can worry about that later. Your health starts when you're young. If you overeat and let your body go, when you're 50, you're gonna have all kinds of problems. If you don't wear sunscreen when you're 20, when you're 40, you're gonna have to have that weird mole removed. I it starts now, right now, when you're young. All of those things, these habits that you have now will either help you or hurt you when you're older, and you need to make the ones that are gonna help you.

SPEAKER_01 36:59

Yes, you're so right. It does begin young, it begins even in the womb. From what I was listening to an episode, an interview the other day with a specialist about prenatal nutrition, and she was talking about how women who have gestational diabetes, when those babies become adults, it increases their chances of becoming diabetic. Absolutely. And yeah, so we have to pay really pay attention to all of that. All of that. I agree. What is something beautiful about this stage that no one warns you about?

SPEAKER_02 37:46

I think your ability to sit back, like you have your memories and you're experiencing new things, so you are you are approaching your life with your with your memories and experiences behind you. And you know, you can see the beautiful choices that you made when you were 20, 30, and 40, that now at you know almost 60, I'm like, oh, I did that good. Oh, that's uh, you know, a wonderful thing, or I'm grateful for that. So just the amount of joy and gratitude.

SPEAKER_01 38:33

What is one thing you want our listeners to remember about today's conversation?

SPEAKER_02 38:40

I think the one thing I would say is, you know, don't sweep your child's symptoms under the rug. I had five or six big moments in my life where I could have made a difference with my children's lives when they were young, and I wasn't educated and I didn't know. I mean, one of them was my son's eyesight, one of them was my son's mental health, one of them was my son's um ADD. I could keep going, unfortunately. Um, you know, but you just don't band-aid things, don't make an excuse, just fix it now because if you do it when they're young, it's so much easier. It's exactly what they tell you about doing your breast exam. If you catch it when it's young, it's so much easier. It's that's just the mantra for life, you know. Help them when they're young because then you give them building blocks to handle things when they're older. What's your favorite quote? My favorite quote is the way you help heal the world is to start with your own family.

SPEAKER_01 40:01

That was Mother Teresa. That was that is so beautiful. Great quote. We need to all take that in and apply that.

SPEAKER_02 40:15

My mother, my mother was very, very Catholic and very followed Mother Teresa. She was she did a lot of quoting on those, but we that is one thing that I try to remember. You can start small, just start in your own family.

SPEAKER_01 40:31

Thank you so much, Caroline, for everything that you had shared with us today. You gave such great advice, such great perspective. We appreciate your time. Thank you for joining us on this heartfelt exploration of family life and personal growth. We hope today's conversation has inspired you to embrace the joys and challenges of motherhood and aging with confidence and grace. Remember, as Mother Teresa said, if you want to change the world, go home and love your family. Until next time, cherish your loved ones and continue to build a legacy rooted in faith and family.

SPEAKER_00 41:32

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