Squeeze Me Tight

When the Support System Breaks

Middle age has brought Sonia Miller a life she values: meaningful work at the community center she co-manages with her best friend, a steady relationship with her long-time boyfriend, Cal, and a close-knit family that includes her mother, daughter, and two

young grandchildren. It’s a full life—busy, imperfect, but deeply rooted in love.

Everything changes when Sonia’s mother, Nettie, makes a radical decision about her healthcare. Determined to leave a nursing facility that prioritizes profit over compassion, Nettie insists on hospice care at home. Sonia agrees, even as she wonders how she

can possibly manage end-of-life care alongside her job and other responsibilities.

Before she can find her footing, another crisis hits. Sonia’s daughter, Joanna, discovers her husband’s infidelity. With nowhere else to go, Joanna and the children move in. The house that was meant to be a place of quiet comfort becomes crowded and chaotic.

The very people Sonia once relied on begin to pile additional pressure on her already strained resilience.

Squeeze Me Tight is a poignant, intimate novel about caregiving, generational strain, and the quiet courage it takes to say “enough.”

Excerpt from the book

“I’m about to head out, Sonia.” Cecily poked her head into the office. Her silvering locs swung. Mischief shone in her warm brown eyes.

“Sure thing.” Sonia pushed the save icon at the top of her computer. “I’ve just about got the schedule draft for summer classes mapped out. I’ll send it to you and then head home myself. Thank God we thought to make Fridays no evening class days. Otherwise, I’d be working 24/7 and even in my sleep. Who would have guessed that teaching art to some kids would be so time-consuming?”

“It’s a good problem to have,” Cecily agreed. “Got any big plans for the evening? Hot date with your silver fox?”

“Nah. Not tonight. Cal has a city council meeting, though he may stop by later. I’m just planning to visit Mom, do some gardening, and maybe take a hot bath.”

“Don’t forget to use those new bath salts I made for you.”

“Oh, I won’t forget. I have never smelled anything so relaxing in my life. I’ll have to make you some chocolate cake as a thank you.”

Cecily’s laugh echoed through the hallway as she made her way through the halls of a decommissioned daycare they had converted into a community center. Sonia finished punching her keys and shared the document with Cecily before rising, retrieving her big, fringed purse from the bottom drawer of her desk, and digging out the key.

She powered down her laptop and left the office, switching off lights as she walked down the hallway toward the parking lot.

Outside, the sharpness of fresh-mown grass hung heavy in the air from the soccer field across the street. A hot, late-May sun beamed down. Sonia closed her eyes and committed the moment to her memory. “I am so grateful. I have a meaningful profession, a wonderful family, and this is a perfect moment.”

Peace radiated out from her chest, relaxing the shoulders she had hunched unconsciously while working. She rocked them back, rolling her neck to one side and the other for a satisfying crunch. Breathing a bit deeper, she exhaled, imagining the workplace flowing down out of her sandals and into the black asphalt parking lot.

Feeling free, she walked to her car and unlocked the door.

Though old and with a decided rattle, the golden Mazda was full of memories of outings with Sonia’s daughter and grandchildren, her mother, or all of them together—and wasn’t that a tight fit with three adults and two car seats—but the afternoon at the lake was well worth the discomfort.

Will that day ever come again? Though possible, Sonia doubted it, and a hint of sorrow tightened her chest. More changes are coming. Like the turn of seasons, life is always moving. Retreating and returning, and when it returns, it is changed.