What 2026 Will Bring It’s Monday and the Midwest is doing its cruel thing — yesterday was 50 degrees, today it’s 7. Raw and bitter and deeply rude. I really wanted snow on Christmas. Didn’t get it. But overall, the holidays went really well, and I’m coming off a weekend that was full in the…

Just as I hit publish on my last post, reality walked into my office and reminded me why I do this work. I had written that entry from work, fully expecting to wrap up my day and head out to prime rib dinner. Then a young employee came in — 23 years old — and…

Christmas Magic and the Light Matters Last Thursday turned into an impromptu girls’ Christmas dinner that honestly shouldn’t have worked — but somehow did. Those last-minute plans sometimes surprise you. I got together with Megan, Carrie, and Donna, and before dinner we squeezed in photos with Santa. Yes. The four of us grown women with…

Happy Birthday, Mom Today is my mom’s birthday. She would’ve been 78. And today, my dad pulled a new one on us. This afternoon at work I checked his location like I always do. Something was off — he was somewhere unfamiliar, and Kathy wasn’t with him. My stomach dropped. I called her immediately. She…

Four Years and a Full Day Today is four years since I lost my mom. The death anniversary thing doesn’t usually hit me hard. I’m not really a mark-the-date kind of griever. But I woke up this morning crabby and mad and apparently emotional, which I didn’t fully understand until I was already in it.…

Ten Years and a Colonoscopy Let’s see where I left off. We did the annual pumpkin carving at the Wilsons and it was such a nice day. Aunt Susie made everything cozy and beautiful and delicious — full Hallmark fall spread, because that’s just who she is. She’s also genuinely one of the best cooks…

Cup Half Full (Even When It’s Cracked) I had an eleven-hour workday last week that ate my soul. Came straight home, drew a bath, added extra epsom salt, and was fully soaking when Drew called. I let it go. A few minutes later he called again. I picked up. Small talk, how’s it going —…

Somewhere in the Middle I’m tired of the noise. The shouting, the finger-pointing, the you’re-either-with-us-or-against-us mentality that’s swallowed everything whole. Somewhere along the way, common sense and compassion became radical concepts. That breaks my heart. I’m a values-first voter. I lean progressive on a lot of issues but I see the world through a moderate…

Ten Years Before the last thing he said to me that night, I was lying there feeling genuinely grateful. Grateful for him, for our life, for the little world we’ve built. Something good had been taking shape because of his hard work, and I was thinking about how I wanted to tell him that in…

Trail Magic There’s this thing hikers talk about called trail magic. A good Samaritan leaves snacks or cold drinks somewhere along the path — something a weary traveler stumbles upon when they need it most. It’s not really about the food. It’s about the reminder that someone out there believes in what you’re doing, even…