During my son’s senior year of high school, he and a few of his friends had a rather telling conversation with their choir teacher, one my son later relayed to me. In the course of their chat after class, someone asked this teacher – who is young, smart, and beloved by students and parents alike – what she thought was the biggest problem she sees ...
In an eatery tucked away in the corner of town, David and I sat at a table for two. It was a noisy, crowded restaurant, one composed of several small rooms with tables and chairs squeezed in like some kind of furniture Tetris. Old photos and mementos covered every square inch of the walls. I looked around from our tiny table and began to feel ...
Before the USAF moved our family to the Rocky Mountain town of Colorado Springs, we were stationed in the tropical islands of Hawaii. I still remember landing at the small island airport for the first time, walking hand-in-hand with my four-year-old daughter towards baggage claim. I was exhausted after the long flight and terribly nervous about ...
A couple of months ago, I made my way north to Fort Collins, Colorado, home of Colorado State University. My twin sons, both excited and nervous to be driving toward their freshman year of college, followed behind me in their granddad’s 2003 silver Honda. We arrived alongside a sea of other wide-eyed kids and teary-eyed parents and spent the ...
In the fall of 2011, we discovered our daughter, Faith, had a broken neck. Before and after her precarious but successful corrective surgery, Faith endured strict limitations on her mobility. For months, she reluctantly kept her physical activity to a minimum. Playing on the jungle gym during recess at school? Nope. Riding her bike around the ...
There's a particular Starbucks I frequent, one that sits across the street from the courts where my daughter, Faith, has tennis practice. While Faith works on her tennis game, you can often find me working on my writing game at one of their outdoor tables under an umbrella. I'm there a lot this summer. One day, after ordering my typical iced ...
When my family had lived in the Midwest for a year, and I was in a season of parenting three tiny humans, we attended a church full of beautifully kind and loving people. After some time, I finally began forming relationships with a few of the good folks there. One particular Sunday when my husband was out of town for work, I managed to navigate ...
I slide into the booth at Kneaders opposite Salena, excited to chat with this woman I recently met but feel like I’ve known for years. Over her fruit tart and my breakfast croissant, she and I meander down a long road of conversation, lingering here and there at points of interest. She is a former army wife, and I am a former air force wife. As ...
Here it is, mid-May, and I’m going back and forth between reading news on Meghan and Harry’s baby boy and remembering this time last year when two of my three kiddos graduated high school. Planning a graduation is in many ways like planning a wedding. Out of town guests? Check. Cake and a party? Check. Lots of bittersweet tears because really, ...
On a sun-drenched Saturday several years ago, we gathered at Jen’s house, each bringing a glass or porcelain plate. On Jen’s driveway, we took turns dropping our plates. After each one shattered, we walked around and picked up a few of each other’s shards to add to a few of our own. Because this is what good friends do: become safe places to break ...
