Ilene Carol

Caring for my mother was the hardest and most beautiful gift of my life. In this personal essay, I reflect on the quiet work of caregiving, the emotional toll of balancing roles, and the legacy of love we leave behind. In the last four years of my mother’s life, I found myself inhabiting roles I never fully anticipated—daughter, caregiver, executor—and somehow, still, Publisher of Women’s Quarterly. My days stretched thin, balancing the demands of caregiving with the responsibilities of business.