If you spend your days lifting, scheduling, advocating, and worrying for someone you love, this is your permission slip: you are a person too, and your tank matters. Caretakers are famous for running on empty and calling it love, but depletion eventually reaches the person you are caring for. Start absurdly small. One hour a week that belongs only to you, protected like a medical appointment. One friend you can text without editing yourself. One thing you kept from your before life, whether that is a hobby, a team you follow, or a coffee order you refuse to give up. You cannot pour from an empty cup, and you were never meant to. Getting support is not a detour from caring well. It is half of it.
Every story matters.
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