The Weight of Care: Meet Rachel

Portraits from Holding On: Love, Loss, and the Spaces Between

Meet Rachel.

When I started writing Holding On, I thought I knew who Rachel was.

A mother. A daughter. A caregiver doing her best to hold everyone—and everything—together.

But as the story deepened, so did she. The more I wrote, the more I felt the quiet weight she carried—not just for others, but within herself. This character thumbnail helped me stay grounded in her voice when the narrative drifted. It reminded me that her strength isn’t in doing it all. It’s in showing up, even when it’s hard.

If you’ve read Chapters 1 and 2, you’ve seen her take charge, then retreat. Speak, then hesitate. Here’s a closer look at the woman behind those moments:

Rachel Williams
46. Social Worker. Mother of two.

Appearance
5'6", slightly athletic from long walks and the hustle of caregiving.
Dark brown hair, usually tied back. Warm hazel eyes—kind, but often tired.
She moves like someone used to carrying more than her share.

Personality
Compassionate. Pragmatic. Resilient.
She runs on lists, late-night worry, and a quiet kind of love.
She’s deeply empathetic—but struggles to let others in.

Backstory
Raised in Derbyshire. Became a social worker to make a difference.
Built a life with Chris. Raised Emma and Liam.
Now, she’s sandwiched between generations—parenting her kids while caring for her own parents as they decline.

Relationships
Lily & Ralph (parents): Steady love, now shadowed by anticipatory loss.
David (brother): Tense but loyal. Their bond is real, but hard-won.
Chris (husband): Her quiet anchor, even when she forgets to lean on him.
Emma & Liam (kids): She shields them from the weight she carries—though sometimes, they carry it with her anyway.

The Heart of Her Story
Rachel doesn’t fall apart. She frays, quietly.
She holds it all together because she thinks she has to.
But there’s more to her than responsibility and resolve.

This is Rachel.
And Holding On is her story—one of love, memory, and what it means to carry others without losing yourself.