Not long ago, I stepped out of my comfort zone and decided to attend a mental health support group. While I have family and friends who struggle with their mental health — and I’ve wrestled with mine from time to time — I didn’t go to the meeting with a purpose. I didn’t go to
I want to share something about me; something I have
When Sophie was just a few months old, my family
SURRENDER “Surrendering is the opposite of giving up, it’s giving
“Writing and running are dual pursuits that enable the illusion of control, a way of ordering the world through carefully crafted sentences and mile splits.” I didn’t write that sentence, but I easily could have;
Every evening after work, my dad took himself to the high school track to run. He’d run seven laps and walk the last one, for a total of two miles. My dad is a creature
Originally published on Medium “Have you gone on any dates? Are you seeing anyone? Have you tried meeting people?” These are the questions I’m asked more frequently than not. “I’m just not in a place
Originally published on Medium Growing up, my dad liked to play the “What if?” game. In an attempt to get at the root cause of whatever mood was irking at me on a particular day,
This piece is part of The Pain Diaries series. How many times have we heard this phrase? The implied message being that physical pain is something that should not be accepted. It’s unwanted, unpleasant, and should
This piece is part of The Pain Diaries series. My earliest memory of pain is a headache. But not the pain of the headache. It’s the St. Joseph baby aspirin with the toy soldier on the
Originally published on Medium Sometimes, I’ll read a piece of writing that hits me on a visceral level. I know this because I won’t even be finished with the piece and I’ve found myself pulling
Originally published on Medium Not long after my ex-husband and I filed for divorce, I was sharing the news of the end of my marriage with a friend. She was married and a mother as
This is not your typical back-to-school blog post. In September 1987, I started my seventh grade year in middle school. My biggest worry was whether I’d be able to handle being placed in GATE classes
When I started this blog, Sophie was a mere 2-years-old. I wrote about all those new milestone moments of motherhood, like going from the crib to a toddler bed, saying goodbye to the baby monitors,
Not long ago, I stepped out of my comfort zone and decided to attend a mental health support group. While I have family and friends who struggle with their mental health — and I’ve wrestled with mine from time to time — I didn’t go to the meeting with a purpose. I didn’t go to
I want to share something about me; something I have not told many people. There was a time when I used to go back to bed every morning. Every morning, when Sophie was in elementary school here in Indiana, I woke up at 6:45 a.m. and got her ready for school. I packed her lunchbox
When Sophie was just a few months old, my family doctor told me something that’s never left my mind:“When your kids are little, you worry about them playing in the street and getting hit by a teenager driving a car. And then they become teenagers, and you worry they’re the ones driving the car that
Sometimes a writing idea will come to me in minutes and I’ll feverishly draft the entire thing in the Notes app of my phone. Other times, it takes months for the idea to come to fruition. Or it starts as one thing and morphs into something else. This post is an example of a piece
Those of you who’ve been reading my blog for a bit know that I’m a huge “West Wing” and Aaron Sorkin fan. One of my favorite episodes is the season four opener, “20 Hours in America.” The episode begins with President Bartlett giving a campaign speech at an Indiana farm. After being left behind by
Not long ago, I stepped out of my comfort zone and decided to attend a mental health support group. While I have family and friends who struggle with their mental health — and I’ve wrestled with mine from time to time — I didn’t go to the meeting with a purpose. I didn’t go to
I want to share something about me; something I have not told many people. There was a time when I used to go back to bed every morning. Every morning, when Sophie was in elementary school here in Indiana, I woke up at 6:45 a.m. and got her ready for school. I packed her lunchbox
Not long ago, I stepped out of my comfort zone and decided to attend a mental health support group. While I have family and friends who struggle with their mental health — and I’ve wrestled with mine from time to time — I didn’t go to the meeting with a purpose. I didn’t go to
“Writing and running are dual pursuits that enable the illusion of control, a way of ordering the world through carefully crafted sentences and mile splits.” I didn’t write that sentence, but I easily could have; because I share those exact sentiments. Those words were written by Jaclyn Gilbert in an essay entitled “The Need for
Originally published on Medium “Have you gone on any dates? Are you seeing anyone? Have you tried meeting people?” These are the questions I’m asked more frequently than not. “I’m just not in a place where I want that right now. And I don’t like dating apps,” I reply. “But that’s how it’s done now!
Originally published on Medium Growing up, my dad liked to play the “What if?” game. In an attempt to get at the root cause of whatever mood was irking at me on a particular day, dad played amateur psychologist with those two words. “What if your friend responded differently to what you said? … What
When Sophie was just a few months old, my family doctor told me something that’s never left my mind:“When your kids are little, you worry about them playing in the street and getting hit by a teenager driving a car. And then they become teenagers, and you worry they’re the ones driving the car that
This is not your typical back-to-school blog post. In September 1987, I started my seventh grade year in middle school. My biggest worry was whether I’d be able to handle being placed in GATE classes (gifted and talented education, GT, advanced classes, as they’re called). Spoiler alert: I did well in nearly all the subjects;
This piece is part of The Pain Diaries series. How many times have we heard this phrase? The implied message being that physical pain is something that should not be accepted. It’s unwanted, unpleasant, and should be disposed of and treated at all costs. Take a pill. Stop the pain. In 1996 — the same year
This piece is part of The Pain Diaries series. My earliest memory of pain is a headache. But not the pain of the headache. It’s the St. Joseph baby aspirin with the toy soldier on the box. Mom said my headaches started in kindergarten. At the young age of five, school was punishment and I never
