My first Christmas as a widow was supposed to be quiet, predictable, and utterly ordinary. Work at the library, go home to an empty house, repeat. No surprises, no noise, no heartbreak… or so I thought. Instead, everything changed because of an old man on a bench outside the library. I had thought he was […]
Some Gifts Come with Ribbons. Others Come with Consequences. At the time, I really believed we were doing something good. Nothing flashy. Nothing over the top. Just… good. My husband Zach and I had been talking for weeks about what to give his younger brother, Adam, and his bride Megan, for their wedding. We weren’t […]
The Cool Grandma Who Outsmarted Them All I’ve always been the kind of grandma who refuses to slow down. The one who’s more active than people half her age. Puppy yoga with college girls? Done. Skateboarding in the park with twenty-somethings? No problem. I even taught myself Japanese just to read the writing on my […]
I used to think my biggest mom problems would be things like public tantrums in Target, fighting over nap time, and stressing about preschool wait lists. I was wrong. One afternoon, I came home early and found my three-year-old son alone in his crib. The babysitter was gone. No warning. No goodbye. Just a letter […]