Presented by
A selective collaborative book project
Telling Their Stories:
Love, Loss, and Finding Strength to Fully Live Again
The caregiving ended
The lessons didn't
Your loved one left you more than memories. They left words you still hear, habits you understand differently now, lessons that waited until grief or healing made room for them—and strength you did not know was forming while you were simply trying to get through the day.
We are seeking 15 contributing authors ready to transform caregiving, grief, legacy, and identity into stories that can help another caregiver feel seen, strengthened, and less alone.
Perhaps you spent years making decisions, advocating, adjusting, sacrificing, praying, grieving—and loving through circumstances no one could have fully prepared you for.
Who are you now?
When the appointments stopped and caregiving no longer organized your days, that question may have surfaced. This book begins there.
Why this project
This book begins where many caregiving stories end
This is not simply a collection about loss
It is about what caregiving left in us—even through difficult lessons, complicated family history, declining health, memory loss, and final transition. Our loved ones were still teaching us something. And now we live differently because of it.
Fully living again does not mean forgetting. It means recognizing what remains—and deciding how the love, lessons, and strength you carry will shape the life ahead.
The stories that belong here
We are not looking for the saddest stories
We are looking for the truest, most reflective, most transformative ones
“I was exhausted—and I discovered strength.”
“Our relationship was complicated—and caregiving helped me see it differently.”
“I grieved them before they were gone—and still found moments of grace.”
“Their memory changed—but what they planted in me remained.”
“I lost a role that had defined my life—and had to discover who I was afterward.”
What did they teach you?
What did caregiving teach you?
Who did you become?
How are you living differently now?
Fifteen voices. Stories only they can tell.
What you lived through may become strength for someone else
Take the first step toward sharing the story only you can tell.
Complete the interest formWho are we looking for?
People who walked closely with a loved one
We are seeking men and women whose caregiving journeys included love, complexity, devotion, difficult choices, or a long goodbye. The 15 selected voices may include:
- Adult daughters and sons
- Husbands, wives, and partners
- Siblings and grandchildren
- Chosen-family caregivers
- Male caregivers whose experiences are often underrepresented
- Caregivers who navigated dementia or cognitive loss
- People whose relationships were loving, complicated, or both
- People rebuilding life after caregiving ended
You do not need to be a professional writer
You do need to be willing to reflect honestly, receive guidance, and consider how your story might help someone else find language, meaning, healing, or hope.
Why become one of the 15?
Because this project develops the story—and the storyteller
Selected contributors will join a guided collaborative publishing and author-development experience designed to help them shape their stories, strengthen their voices, and prepare to share their message beyond the page.
Literary coaching
Professional editorial support
Personal and author branding sessions
Speaker training
Interview and media preparation
Marketing and visibility guidance
Collaborative author-development experiences
Book launch opportunities
Community with fellow selected contributors
Additional development and promotional opportunities
A curated and selective experience
This experience is for contributors ready to reflect deeply, be guided with care, and use their stories in service of someone else's healing.
Submission of an interest form does not guarantee selection. Those invited to move forward will receive complete information about project expectations, timelines, contribution specifications, and the financial commitment required to participate before making a final commitment.
Why these stories matter
Your story may be the one someone else needs
There is a caregiver somewhere who needs to know they are not the only one who felt guilty for being exhausted, confused by early grief, or unsure who they were when caregiving was over.
Someone whose days were once organized around another person's needs and who now feels strangely unassigned. Someone carrying difficult memories alongside beautiful ones. Someone realizing they are more like the person they cared for than they ever expected.
That is why these 15 voices matter.
A project led by women who understand
Caregiving beyond theory
Telling Their Stories: Love, Loss, and Finding Strength to Fully Live Again is presented through Pecan Tree Publishing and Cocoon to Wings Publishing.
FounderE. Claudette Freeman
FounderStephanie Outten
Both understand caregiving beyond theory. They know grief. They know mourning. They know what it means to learn to live in the physical absence of someone whose presence once shaped daily life.
This project was born from that understanding—and from the belief that our loved ones' stories keep speaking when we have the courage to listen, remember, and live what they left behind.
Something remains.
Something gets passed.
Something becomes wisdom.
I am still living what they taught me.How to express interest
You do not need to submit a finished chapter now
For consideration, simply be prepared to share the heart of your caregiving journey:
- Whom you cared for
- What your caregiving journey looked like
- What changed in you
- What your loved one taught you
- How you are living differently now
- Why you believe your story could serve another caregiver
Is your story one of the 15 that could help another caregiver feel seen, strengthened, and less alone?
Complete the interest formSelected contributors should expect a financial commitment as part of participation. Full details will be provided before a final commitment is made.
Their lives shaped the lesson.
Caregiving revealed it.
Now it is time to live it, carry it forward, and share it with someone who needs it.