

My heart grew
Have you read See You Later? A few months into knowing Tom, my mother allowed me to have him on our ski vacation. It’s such a sweet bonding moment that I decided to share in my memoir. We were newly in love and dating. I had just turned 16 and he had just turned 17. Babies in 1988. We were immersed in getting to know one another and already attached at the hip. It’s the Wisconsin Dells. We skied, drank cocoa, sat in a hot tub, stole a few moments alone and roasted marshmallow
3 hours ago2 min read


Living as if my parents are dead.
A friend’s father passed recently. She texted a few of us, then posted on social media, receiving a range of expected condolences within hours. There were comments about people feeling “sorry” for her “loss,” and others sharing they were here should she need to talk, and others simply offering support through words and emojis. The script for this kind of grief is well-rehearsed, and the world knows its role. Watching it all, I felt the familiar ache rise in my chest. Whenever
6 days ago3 min read


Managing your past
Flying monkeys show up after the abuse. They aren’t there to witness it. It could be decades later or it could be the very next day, but they will defend the abuser. There were not two sides in that house. There was a child, and there was a grown people with total power over her. That is not two perspectives, that is two people harming another person who had no way to leave, no way to fight back, and no way to even name what was happening to her. The child lived in fear and s
Jul 213 min read


System reset
Watch how a woman blossoms when she finally feels safe.  My children will tell you that my home was a big box of beige, cream and beige colors and light dashes of turquoise and browns with very little bright accent colors as they grew up. My style was very Midwest contemporary and honestly it looked like my home could be anyone’s living space and not necessarily my own.That all ended about 5 years ago, after writing See You Later. It took some time to self publish and durin
Jun 252 min read
















