The Caregiver’s Journey: A New 10-Part Series
Why I’m Writing This — and Why It Matters Now
There are experiences in life that don’t leave you the same person. Caregiving is one of them.
As we’ve grown in this business, I’ve realized people deserve to know who we really are and why we do this — not the cliché of “Hi, I’m in real estate, want to buy a house?” That has never been me.
So here’s the truth of how life brought me to this now.
Most people think caregiving is appointments, medications, logistics. They have no idea. Caregiving rewrites you. It is the weight of loving someone through their worst days. It’s the quiet loss of the identity you had before the diagnosis. It’s the grief that begins long before the goodbye.
For a long time, I carried this privately.
Some of it was too hard to talk about.
Some of it was too sacred.
Some of it, I simply didn’t have words for.
Whenever someone asked me while touring homes, “Richard, how did you come to Florida?” I’d give the easy answer — “I love the beach.” But eventually I realized that wasn’t the real story. The real story is that life reminded me how short the window is. And I followed that reminder here to live, fully.
Over the last few years, I’ve learned something: many people walk this same road — illness, loss, identity shifts — and most never feel seen while they’re going through it. We hide the most human parts of who we are.
This new 10-part series — The Caregiver’s Journey — is my attempt to change that.
It’s an honest exploration of what it means to love someone through illness, loss, and the long, uneven path back to yourself.
This isn’t a memoir.
It isn’t a guide.
It’s a conversation I needed years ago and never found.
What’s Ahead in the Series
the moment life splits into before and after
how love quietly becomes caregiving
the slow death of certainty
the ache of anticipatory grief
the reality of final days
what loss actually feels like in your body
the surreal world that follows the funeral
the first breath you don’t feel guilty taking
who you become after the dust settles
Some parts will be uncomfortable.
Some parts will be grounding.
All of it will be honest.
If you’ve ever cared for someone you love…
If you’ve ever lost someone who shaped you…
If you’ve ever had to rebuild a life from the inside out…
…you’ll find yourself somewhere in these pages.
The first installment arrives this week.
It’s time we let people see who we are, why we are, and why this life matters — now.
—Richard
If this resonates, consider subscribing.
This series is personal, but it’s also universal — and you’re welcome to walk it with me.