Since 2015, James and I have moved my Mom 4 times around 3 different states. In all those moves I never reviewed everything she packed along the way. I focused on cleaning out one place and getting her settled as much as possible into the new place. This past weekend the move was different. I ended up taking a few hours to really review what was being packed and ensure everything received the proper care it needed. Since my Mom's Alzheimer's diagnosis in May we have been maki

Yesterday I was playing with Jackie in her room when I heard a light knock on the front door. Thankfully our house happens to be across the street from a park and so Jackie has friends from the bus, school, or around the neighborhood that will knock on our door for her to come out to play. I absolutely love this! It is one of the few life experiences that overlaps from my childhood to Jackie’s. I grew up in a small town on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. You were typically 1 d

I started writing this post last night in my paper notebook, as I do with all my first drafts. The draft started as a post about being average (at basically all things in life) and then I had a realization that perhaps I am not average but see  myself as average. This led me back to a recent conversation I had with my therapist about not filling my seat at the table and not realizing my significant impact in different settings. So here is the perception or illusion I have abo

Over the summer, James, Jackie, Mom, and I went to France! We got to spend the first few days with our family near Lyon. We hadn't seen them since before COVID and we were long overdue for a visit since several of us had some challenging health issues in the past few years. We laughed, ate delicious food, drank delicious wine, and loved! For the second half of our trip, we drove down to Mandelieu-la-Napole for a beach vacation. We stayed in an apartment overlooking the Medite