Who is caring for the Caregiver?
When does the Caregiver get to breathe?
Maybe you know the word Caregiver firsthand. Maybe you’ve walked through the fire of disease or death with a family member or significant person in your life. Maybe you know that offering the gift of care comes at a cost. Though you’re willing to pay the price, you’re willing to sacrifice and give up a portion of your life’s direction for the sake of another, maybe you’ve found that in the middle of it, or at the end, you’ve given so much you can’t find the edges of yourself anymore. You’ve merged into the care. And in the merging, you’ve forgotten how to breathe.
Caring for another human being in times of their greatest distress is one of the holiest callings a person can heed. Tia Walker, author of The Inspired Caregiver: Finding Joy While Caring for Those You Love, says, “Caregiving often calls us to lean into love we didn’t know possible.” That is true, but what is equally true is that caregiving without proper care for the caregiver is exhausting. This is a weekend for those people who have put their own life’s agenda on hold as they care for someone else – perhaps an elderly parent suffering with dementia, perhaps a spouse with cancer, perhaps a child with physical or learning disabilities, perhaps a neighbor or friend struggling alone. Caregiving is a blessing with a side of hardship strapped on top as the caregiver balances not just their own lives but also the life of the one who needs them.
This weekend is a different sort of retreat weekend. We’re going to teach each other what caregiving means and how best to move through the stress and struggle in order to make the best difference in the lives of others. The retreat is specially priced at $275. You’re basically only paying for food and supplies for two nights and three days. We’ll cook together, talk together, write together, brainstorm together, and take home a wealth of knowledge and support from the people who’ve been in the same sort of trenches. We will share. We will support. We will learn. We might even cry a little bit. We will build a community from folks who might live across the country but know the same life as caregivers.
Here are the details:
- Limited to 8 retreaters who have experienced giving care to another human being.
- We will share in the preparation of meals (don’t worry, we’ll talk and learn as we work to create healthy, nourishing food for the group. It won’t be difficult.)
- We’re building a community of diverse experiences. We’re looking to share personal stories (both the good and the bad) so that we can learn from each other. We’re looking for current caregivers and past caregivers as well.
- We will create group writing pieces that embody both the general experience of caregivers and the specifics, too.
- We will have lots of time to rest, relax, talk, share, walk outside, be in nature, and get to know each other.
- We will learn how to breathe again, how to balance the stress and the holy work of caregiving in the best way possible.
More Details:
- This retreat includes: a private bed/bath suite, 5 meals, 3 workshops, time for community and sharing.
- Cost: $275.00 PLUS TAX, for a total of $312.81 paid upon acceptance.
- Cancellation Policy: There is a refund of 50% if the retreater cancels 4 weeks or more before the retreat. If cancellation occurs less than 4 weeks before the retreat, there will be no refund.
- Location: Rockvale Writers’ Colony, 7020 Giles Hill Road, College Grove, TN 37046
The Schedule (tentative):
Friday, June 5, 2026
3:00 to 5:00 p.m. – Check-in and settle in.
5:00 p.m. – Come to the kitchen to help prepare dinner
6:00 p.m. – Dinner
7:00 p.m. – Cleanup
7:15 p.m. – Welcome and Overview of Retreat
7:30 p.m. – Workshop: Who is the Caregiver: Wait! That’s me! – Writing from various prompts, we’ll explore the essence of ourself as caregiver. Then we’ll create a group piece of writing to express the experience.
9:00 p.m. – Free Time / Bedtime
Saturday, June 6, 2026:
7:00 a.m. – Coffee Ready!
7:15 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. – Breakfast is available. Come anytime you’re ready.
8:00 a.m. – Cleanup
8:15 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. – Free Time for writing and resting
12:00 p.m. – Come to the kitchen to Help Prepare Lunch
1:00 p.m. – Lunch
1:45 p.m. – Workshop: The Life, the Love, and the Loss of Caregiving – More writing and exploring the intricate gift of care we offer to those we love. Also, we’ll create a group visual art piece. (No artistic experience is necessary.)
3:00 p.m. – Free Time
5:30 p.m. – Come to the Kitchen to Help Prepare Dinner
6:30 p.m. – Dinner
7:30 p.m. – Evening Meditation – Star Work, weather permitting
8:00 p.m. – Share Your Writing – Sharing is optional; however, we ask that you attend whether you read or not, in order to support other writers.
9:00 p.m. – Free Time / Bedtime
Sunday, June 7, 2026
7:00 a.m. – Coffee Ready!
7:15 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. – Breakfast is available. Come anytime you’re ready.
8:00 a.m. – Cleanup
8:15 a.m. – Workshop: How to Say Goodbye – We’ll write about and explore what happens when our caregiving time ends.
9:30 a.m. – Free Time and Prepare for Checkout
11:00 a.m. – Checkout and Goodbye
Facilitator: Sandy Coomer
Sandy Coomer is a poet, artist, and endurance athlete. Her poetry has been published in numerous journals and magazines and she is the author of three poetry chapbooks: Continuum (Finishing Line Press), The Presence of Absence (Winner of the Janice Keck Literary Award for Poetry), and Rivers Within Us (Unsolicited Press). One full-length collection, Available Light, was published by Iris Press in 2019. Another, The Broken Places, was published by Saddle Road Press in 2021. Sandy’s art has been featured in local art shows and exhibits and has been published in over 40 publications. She is a marathon runner and an Ironman triathlete, having completed a full Ironman and qualified for and raced in the World Championships for the Half Ironman distance.
Sandy has been a writer-in-residence four times at three different facilities and dreamed of starting a writers’ colony in middle Tennessee. In March 2018, that dream became reality when Sandy purchased 65 acres of land in College Grove, TN. The property had once been a bed and breakfast, making it a perfect candidate for a writers’ colony. Since then, she has worked to build and shape the property into Rockvale Writers’ Colony.
Cognizant of her blessings and the recipient of generosity and kindness from countless other writers, Sandy feels a keen responsibility to give back to the community, particularly to the community of poets and writers. She is the founding editor of Rockvale Review, an online poetry journal, the co-host of Black Dog Poetry Open Mic, and actively participates in the literary scene of middle Tennessee with open-mics and readings. Sandy is a teacher, a dreamer, a seeker, and an explorer. Her favorite word (so much so that she has it tattooed on her left forearm) is “Believe.