I shared two blog ideas with the girls that I was considering writing about and asked their opinion of which one I should use. “Why not both?” they suggested. “Why not,” I thought. So here are two stories. Story 1: Parking at the dentist’s office at 11:20 a.m. on...
Viktor Frankl, a survivor of the death camps of Nazi Germany, one of the great psychiatrists of the 20th century, and the author of one of my favorite books “Man’s Search for Meaning,” once told a story of a woman who called him in the middle...
The man seated beside me on the plane noticed my curious glances at the opened black pouch resting on his tray table. Once the pilot had announced that the plane had reached 10,000 feet, the man had retrieved the pouch from his backpack and carefully unzipped...
“Elmo is just checking in,” the fuzzy red puppet posted on the social media site X a few weeks ago. “How is everybody doing?” It was a simple question. One that most of us ask politely in passing, expecting the conventional responses of “Great,” or“I’m doing well.” Usually nothing that reveals...
It was a beautiful day for a family hike to a waterfall. Walking ahead of our family on the trail were two people carrying fancy-looking cameras. The woman discussed the birds that might appear along the way, detailing their names and colors and markings. Mid-explanation,...
It had been an eventful morning at the aquarium. Emma’s elementary school class was enjoying a field trip day and I was happy to be there as a chaperone. Emma and her friends had marveled at otters darting around underwater, delicately interacted with stingrays in...
I scroll through the movie offerings on a flight from Orlando to Phoenix and select the documentary “Won’t You Be My Neighbor.” I’ve watched it before, and perhaps that’s why I chose it. The calming timbre of Mr. Roger's voice is a familiar and comforting...
The man I’m talking with is convinced the room we are in is bugged and that people are listening to our conversation. He doesn’t want to talk. He is seated on the couch with his hands clasped together and his fingers intertwined. His legs are bouncing...
Several years ago, Emma sat at the kitchen table and began crafting special valentines for her preschool classmates. With delicate precision, she cut out vibrant pink and red hearts, carefully affixing them onto glittering heart-shaped doilies. Emma worked diligently, spending time making the valentines exactly as...
Today, it was a simple wooden chair. The week prior, it was a toaster, followed by a green casserole dish, a rake, a guitar, a watering can, a large watercolor painting, and a floor lamp. Each morning, a single item is set out next to the driveway...