The 22 original episodes of Caregiver Tea Time, a podcast for family caregivers navigating serious illness, grief, and end-of-life care, were first published under the pen name Val Halloway. These episodes are now re-released under the name Donna Hemingway. The content remains unchanged. Listeners will find my same heartfelt reflections, practical encouragement, and lived experience supporting caregivers through emotional, physical, and spiritual challenges. The name update reflects a personal and professional transition — from publishing under a pen name to sharing this work openly under her own name, Donna Hemingway. Donna Hemingway was a family caregiver four times. Now her caregiver days are behind her, and she is sharing from her experience as creator and host of Caregiver Tea Time. In this trailer she introduces her podcast. Four seasons have been released. Each season has a focus: the emotions and stress of family caregiving, the physical and lifestyle challenges of the family caregiver, Donna's Spiritual journey, and the realities around facing the tough stuff at the end of life. Each season will have four episodes that go into depth about these challenges and offer encouragement and support. Donna emphasizes this is not medical advice. She's sharing from her heart and telling her story.
In this introduction to her podcast, Donna describes how Caregiver Tea Time is devoted to family caregivers on their journey supporting someone they love going through a difficult medical treatment or living with a chronic illness.
Listeners are encouraged to bring a cup of tea and pen and paper when listening to the podcast to take notes about topics of interest.
Hey there, welcome to caregiver tea time.
I'm Donna Hemingway, a former caregiver and creator and host of this podcast. Please bring your cup of tea and in case you want to take notes, have a pen and some paper on hand.
So let's sit back and relax and take a deep breath. I'm looking forward to spending this time together. I'd like you to take a break from your caregiver world and maybe learn something new.
So let's raise our cups and say cheers! And let's get started. Today's episode is an introduction to caregiver tea time.
This podcast is devoted to caregivers on their journey, supporting someone they love going through a difficult medical treatment or living with a chronic illness.
It's created by me, a four -time caregiver of three of my close family members. I was a caregiver for two to three years. at a time over about a 30 year span.
And each time it was different. Honestly, I really struggled inside and I wish I would have had something like this podcast to listen to. Please be aware, this is not medical advice or me telling you what to do.
I'm just sharing from my heart, telling my story and what I learned from my experience. All in all, I'm hoping it will help you. as well. I'm trying to make sense of my tough times and be able to move on.
And I trust it will bring something good for you as working on it has already brought many good things for me. So here's how it will work. I will release four seasons of caregiver tea time one season at a time.
Each season will have four episodes and in each episode I'll share my story. and a skill I learned along the way. And I'll share some good things, like recipes and book recommendations and some special messages.
Season one, I call "Let's Get It Together." I want to share some techniques I learned to help reduce stress. These tools are based on science -backed programs, and actually,
I think they're helpful for everyone. Season two is let's get physical. I want to share things that will make it easier for you to take care of your body, including physical activities,
nutrition hints, how to deal with difficulty sleeping, and how to incorporate breath work into your life. Season three is let's get spiritual.
I am a woman of faith, and I want to share my experiences. with prayer, spiritual healing, soul theory, and more. And finally, season 4.
Let's get real. It will be about the tough stuff. When hope for a cure or a long -term survival is gone and we have to face the need for palliative care,
hospice, and then finally grief and life after loss. We know there will be time times, but there will also be celebrations and so many good things that happen along the way.
We'll try to carry nothing but the good things and the good memories in our hearts.
Caregiver Tea Time was recorded at the Coop Studio, Irvington, New York, engineered by Sammy Wags and produced by Bianca Glick.
I want to say a special thank you to Bianca and Sammy for bringing Caregiver Tea Time to life.
Thank you for joining me. I look forward to sharing Caregiver Tea Time with you again!