Sometimes he was hard on me. Sometimes it felt hard to connect. I was fiery and adventurous, after all. I wanted colored hair and multiple piercings. I think maybe he didn’t quite know what to do with all of that. He was raised with the tumbleweeds...
They always say the teen years are hard, and you nod the same half-hearted nod you did when, as a mother of a tantruming toddler, they used to tell you to enjoy every moment, because the years would fly by before you even realized what end was up...
At dinner time two nights ago, my two high school daughters told a hilarious tale: School elections had been coming up to decide who would be class president next year. Two of the kids running were the ones that you’d typically expect. You know, the...
Well, I’m back to meal planning. Once every few years I try to be a whole new woman, and get my life together where the dinner prep and grocery shopping is concerned. I already only wear Birkenstocks. I can’t let EVERY part of me fall. Once every...
Dear Grieving Friend, I know you’re up with me tonight, staring at the ceiling, wondering if it will ever end. I know you’re reminding yourself to keep on breathing; Hand on your abdomen to make sure it is so. I know your mind is replaying all you...
When the fall of 2020 came, rather than risk all those dreaded zooms again, I pulled my youngest out of her school and have since been homeschooling her instead. In the beginning I thought it would be more temporary, because, let’s face it, I know...
It was her 15th birthday. We drove out to Sonoma to spend the day, passing through vineyards, and the shadows of trees; Their light flickering, as if the whole earth shared a pulse. She had only asked to bring her boyfriend and his mom along. She...
Sometimes in life you live out a story you’re sure you will never be able to forget. For Christmas, all my husband, Justin, and son-in-law, Aaron, wanted were tattoo gift certificates. I thought those would be easy enough gifts, and, thankfully...
It feels like this cycle has become our way: She does well, she is smiling big, she talks freely about her day, but then the tendrils of anxiety start to edge out of the dark cracks, and try, once again, to ruin everything. Before long we are back...
Yes, it’s a new year, but it has been a worn-thin last couple of days. Keep going, keep doing, act like I can handle everything. So many emails from the school, jolting along in a covid test pick-up lane, hearing, “What’s the name of your student?”...