Hi My Golden Friend, Last night, thunderstorms rolled through Texas, offering hours of spectacular lightning shows and much-appreciated rain. My husband and I sipped sweat tea and sat on our front porch while we watched the skies in wonder--listening to the rumbling thunder and feeling the cool outflows of air on our faces. My little cat Olive crawled up onto my lap and watched the exhibition with us, purring contentedly from the safety of our porch. The evening air smelled of damp earth,...

Hi My Golden Friend, This week, my parents are moving to a place where they can receive more care and support than I can give them on my own. I wish I could tell you I feel one clean emotion about this. Instead, I feel sad. Relieved. Grateful. Guilty. Proud. A little brokenhearted. A little lighter. For the past three years, caring for my parents (my mom has dementia) has been woven into nearly every part of my life. There have been beautiful moments, exhausting moments, tender moments, and...

Hi My Golden Friend, There is a kind of courage that rarely gets applauded. It’s not loud. It doesn’t always look victorious. Sometimes it looks like getting out of bed when grief is sitting on your chest. Sometimes it looks like caring for aging parents, loving difficult people, rebuilding after heartbreak, or carrying responsibilities no one else fully sees. Sometimes courage is simply showing up for another ordinary Tuesday when life has already asked far too much of you. Many of you...