This weekend, I had the honor of attending the wedding of my daughter Kylee's longtime best friend, Danielle. Kylee is the matron of honor, just as Danielle stood beside her at her wedding five years ago as shown in this photo. I've watched these two girls, who are turning 30 this year, grow up together. From the days when they were in elementary school on the soccer field to the countless birthday parties and Halloween costumes, playdates and sleepovers. From summer vacation

The following song came on after a playlist, and I thought it was a great representation of what so many humans need with one caveat, think of the word love in this song as a relationship…to be taught how to love or more accurately, to be taught how to behave in healthy ways within a relationship whether it's again or, like me, for the very first time. Teach Me How To Love Again While the song is referring to a romantic relationship, the same lessons can be applied anytime be

“I was always looking outside myself for strength and confidence, but it comes from within. It is there all the time.” Anna Freud   As   a healthcare administrator for more than 20 years, I am very aware of how a full moon can signal a bad, or at least a rather crazy night in an emergency department. So, after waking the morning of my birthday recently seeing there was a very crisp, clear full moon still shining brightly, I wasn't quite sure what to think. As the morning pro

This morning, I was reminded of how paralyzing fear can be. It's similar to a first glance of this photo, it looks like the pier will be a perfect place to go sit and admire the ocean but as you look more closely you can see it was damaged in the last hurricane and has yet to be repaired so walking too far out can be treacherous, even life threatening according to the sign's warning. And that reminded me of fear and the alarm signals that go off in our brains based on past pa

I was with a friend last weekend who understandably didn’t eat a "bad spot" in a piece of pineapple, but as I pushed it off the plate and down the garbage disposal, it occurred to me that is how we sometimes treat people when we identify something that doesn’t appear quite right or that concerns us. We can often see or feel bad spots in fruit when we are making selections in the grocery store, but sometimes like with the pineapple, discoloring occurs after cutting it up and t

Dedicated to Gabriella Ann "Gabby" Collins , January 24, 2007-March 31, 2025, and Austin Hayes Waters , December 19, 1994-January 28, 2025, and all their family and friends who love them so dearly. Several years back, if I had read this blog, or virtually any other similar message, I would have disregarded it thinking, she doesn’t know my pain, she must not have challenges like I have, life must be easy for her, she doesn’t live in my brain, etc., etc., etc. I was a master at

After selling my home more than two years ago and getting rid of all but a few physical possessions in order to go away and write my memoir, I returned to Kansas City last year and told my daughter I wasn’t going to buy any Christmas decor for my little studio apartment. My little lover of all things Christmas, who is now 29 years old, wasn’t going to let me get away with making it easy on myself. It sounded blasphemous to her not to have at least some holiday decor, so she b

I was out of town visiting my sister and her family and, on the way back, there was a slight detour because an overpass had been torn out...

I don't often write about my spiritual beliefs, not because I'm uncomfortable doing so, but rather because there are so many people who...

Grief has taught me  To honor and acknowledge love  With supreme gratitude and urgency, Whether that’s through new moments  Or...

"If we're honest, we're always losing everyone all the time. And that's why to love anything is insane, right? Because to love anything...

As a parent, I wanted to believe that I could protect my child. I wanted to believe that I could make her life better, happier and safer...

I saw this frame more than 20 years ago and even though I knew I shouldn't spend the money on it at that time, I simply had to have it...

Monday, October 21, I will officially share my Brave Enough To Be Bliss story with the world through my website ...

This is the graphic from my book's first section title page and if I could wrap up the entire book into one sentence, this would be...

I'm one of those people who ends up being in the middle on most all personality tests. I am likely the definition of gray. It’s not that...

When I was thinking about what visual to use, this photo immediately came to mind. While my daughter loved the pool, this was her first...

I attended a very moving Celebration of Life service this week. It's hard to tell exactly how many people were in attendance, but I would...

And it isn't pretty. It's hard. It's sad. It just plain hurts sometimes. And yet, I am so grateful for healing because with it comes the...

Sunday afternoon I enjoyed hiking a trail nearby with the goal of finding the lookout point I'd been told about with a view of Lake...