Just days before the New York City Marathon, host Thérèse is preparing to enter one of its final waves—not as the youngest, fastest, leanest, strongest, or best-trained runner, but proudly as an underdog.

For caregivers, underdogs are familiar.

Illness, disability, aging, and slower communication can cause the world to underestimate the people receiving care. Thérèse remembers an eye specialist speaking over her father after Progressive Supranuclear Palsy slowed his responses—and the moment the physician dismissed him as someone who was “just here for the ride.”

Her father was not there for the ride. It was his vision, his body, his appointment, and his life.

Caregivers become fierce advocates for the people they love. They ask others to speak directly to them, give them time to answer, and see the whole person beyond the diagnosis. But when caregiving ends, many former caregivers discover that they have become underdogs too—older, physically changed, professionally interrupted, financially strained, and attempting to rebuild lives the world may not fully understand.

In this deeply personal final episode before race day, Thérèse considers what it means to turn that advocacy inward. She refuses to let age, injuries, fear, or other people’s assumptions decide whether she belongs at the starting line—or what remains possible in her life.

Love the underdog. Every time.

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Fourteen days before the New York City Marathon, an acute right-heel injury leaves host Thérèse facing the possibility that she may not reach the finish line she has spent months preparing to cross.

The sudden uncertainty reveals a familiar caregiving instinct: the need to anticipate every crisis, control every variable, and ignore personal pain so the people we love receive the care they need.

Drawing from her 25 years as a family caregiver, Thérèse explores how overriding physical and emotional pain becomes a survival mechanism—and why healing in "The After" requires learning to listen to ourselves again.

Inspired by her namesake, St. Thérèse of Lisieux, and her "Little Way" of trust, Thérèse begins practicing surrender not as one dramatic act, but as a series of small, repetitive releases. She cannot guarantee what her heel will feel like on race morning, but she can rest, adapt, make wise decisions, and care for the body she has today.

Because surrender is not resignation. It means doing what is ours to do without pretending we can control what happens next.

In this deeply personal episode, Thérèse invites listeners to reflect:

• What is true in this exact moment?

• What is mine to do today?

• What is my pain asking me to notice?

• What can I release—just for now?

Thérèse also makes a personal request: please send her love, positive energy, and prayers as she moves through these uncertain final fourteen days toward November 1st.

"I surrender the outcome—not my responsibility. I surrender certainty—but never hope."

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Have you ever finished an entire argument with someone while washing dishes—when they weren’t even in the house? You found the perfect words, explained your pain, and demanded to be understood. But what happens when the apology or acknowledgment you deserve never comes?

With just 21 days until the New York City Marathon, host Thérèse explores the mental energy caregivers waste trying to get a different ending to a story that has already happened. From the biological toll of rumination and delayed cortisol recovery to the power of establishing dignity without external validation, this episode provides a compassionate, practical guide to stopping the mental replay.

In this episode, we explore:

• The Dishwashing Argument: Why we mentally replay hurt with absent people.
• The Caregiver's Hidden Anger: Processing broken promises, unhelpful opinions, and post-caregiving relational disappointments.
• The Cortisol Connection: How rehearsing past arguments keeps your nervous system in an active stress state.
• Dignity vs. Validation: Why your self-worth cannot depend on someone else admitting they hurt you.
• The 4-Step De-escalation Practice: Practical steps to catch the replay, settle your physiology, and return to the life in front of you.

Weekly Reflection Question: When you notice the argument returning this week, ask yourself: "What am I hoping this conversation will give me, and what part of caring for that need is available to me today?"

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