At Medicine & Music, we meet people where they are — bringing physician-informed wellness conversations, music, and human connection directly into community spaces.
Through Dee-Dee’s Hope Chest, women have long gathered in a private, supportive space to share life’s challenges, caregiving journeys, health concerns, grief, resilience, and hope.
The My Hope Series brings selected stories forward — shared voluntarily by members of this community — so that others may feel seen, supported, and less alone in their own journey.
Each story reflects the power of being heard and the healing that can come from connection, compassion, and community.
Today, we are honored to share the story of Lisa, a devoted daughter navigating the evolving role of caregiver to her father.
Lisa’s journey reflects the quiet strength, patience, and love that so many caregivers offer each day — often without recognition, but always with heart.
Her story is shared with the hope that others walking a similar path will know they are not alone.
The Journey Continues: The White Glove
Daddy was born in the late 1930s. To get through college, he cleaned homes for families who were more established. He and his parents made a deal: he would pay for one semester, and they would pay for the next.
He started cleaning inside homes. Then it expanded to washing cars, yard work, whatever was needed. He would work all day for $1.50.
Because of that, Daddy became meticulous about cleaning. Growing up, every Saturday was cleaning day in our home. My main chore?
Dusting.
And this is where the white glove comes in.
“White glove cleaning” means exceptionally thorough cleaning — so clean you can run a white cotton glove over a surface and find no dust.
Oh, you best believe Daddy ran that test.
Fast forward.
Now the tides have turned.
The caregiver is the one tidying up.
I follow behind Daddy wiping down the bathroom sink, picking up trash, straightening things. Sometimes I think he just doesn’t feel it’s important to clean behind himself.
But the truth is deeper than that.
He’s trying to remember what’s next. How to get to the next room safely. How to hold on so he doesn’t fall. How to pull himself up from the table after eating.
Cleaning up behind himself is no longer the priority.
There are moments I have to stop myself from reminding him of what he used to say to me growing up. Because if I did, he would simply respond,
“I’m trying.”
And he is.
So instead, I do what he taught me so well.
I clean up.
The man who once checked for dust with a white glove now leans on me, the one he trained so well.
Full circle.
Right now… it’s part of the journey.
My hope is that someone will hear my story and realize they are not the only one navigating the emotional journey of caregiving. Lisa C
Through stories like Lisa’s, Medicine & Music continues to create welcoming spaces where connection, encouragement, and shared experience remind us that care is not only clinical — it is human.
Sharing is caring. 
3 thoughts on “My Hope Series | From Dee-Dee’s Hope Chest”
Thank you for sharing your story, Lisa. Your father clearly did very well, and I have no doubt he is proud of you, even if he doesn’t express it often, or at all. Your experience reminds me of many of my patients and their caregivers, who are so often daughters doing their very best under difficult circumstances. When I see the frustration on a caregiver’s face, I try to acknowledge it with empathy while also helping them find ways to navigate those moments. Your approach, remembering what your father taught you and recognizing that he isn’t trying to be difficult, offers a powerful perspective. I plan to carry that insight with me. Thank you again for sharing it.
Hello Dee Dee, I offer tremendous congratulations to you and your husband on your much needed movement! I am sitting in the the middle of of my mom’s home right now, panicking and overwhelmed, surrounded by years of a lifetime of collections from art to recent genealogy research as we have been able to trace many of our Ancestors in my hometown community’s freedom from slavery 71 years before the Emancipation Proclamation!
I recently retired from education to care for my mom and to spend some quality time with her because I thought my grandparents would be here forever when I finally returned to my hometown! It has brought many tears going pass the homesteads I once lived and toiled gardens with them!
Your article about Lisa’s story that I happened upon (I believe was no accident) came just in time to help me summon the energy to assist my mom in anyway i can. It was just the little kick needed because I know I am not the only one going through this journey. The numerous appointments to keep up with and traveling back and forth between two homes is daunting!!! Needless to say, a Caregiver usually has medical needs as well that can easily be overlooked!!!!
I now own property that some of the freed slaves (from whom I am a direct descendant)once owned and have been stuck with how to get my memorial garden to the next phase to honor them and the many folk who inspired me on my journey from a little red-headed girl, in hard red shoes, born to a 15 year old, and raised by my grandparents.
I know a lot about loneliness and Depression and how it can affect the heart and cause heart attacks and other vascular diseases/issues in the body as well. I too have been on a mission to inform anyone who will listen about issues concerning the wellness of the body, mind, and soul! Along with that I have been helping to aid in the healing process through my flowers! You know I love me some flowers and was fortunate to have been given a love gift from my grandmother’s garden!!! So my Ancestors live on through my gardens and I get to fulfill whatever purpose God had placed upon my LIFE!
I would love to support you and your husband in any way possible with your endeavors should you choose to reach out to me.
My phone number hasn’t changed. You can always email me.
God Bless you both and I know God will continue to BLESS and SMILE upon you all!!!!
With Love, GRACE, Purpose, and JOY,
Crystal Gaskins-Ward
Hello Crystal,
Thank you for sharing your story and for affirming that this forum is truly worthwhile. Lisa’s experience is a reminder that you are not alone — and that is at the heart of our mission: that no one, at any stage of life, should ever feel isolated or forgotten.