This past weekend, my heart stretched in ways I didn’t know it could. My youngest son, the baby of our family, the one who completed our circle over thirty years ago, said “I Do” to the love of his life. As I watched him, I couldn’t help but see every version of him all at once. The beautiful baby I often watched sleep, the defiant little toddler who held his breath until he literally passed out, all because I went in the bathroom or out of his sight for a minute. The little boy who had to be held down on a hospital gurney by a nurse, his dad and I while a doctor gave him stitches above his eye. The skateboarding middle schooler who wore skinny jeans with multiple patches, the kid who listened to The Ramones and the like. He had an extremely tall Mohawk, that I hair sprayed and blow dried pretty much every morning. The quirky teenager who loved to laugh, and sell Mountain Dew & Moxie out of his locker. The boy who joined cross country, was obsessed with ultimate frisbee and ear...

People seem to think because I am a Republican, that I agree with everything the Right says…That couldn’t be further from the truth. I agree with many of the policies and ideas that president Trump has, but I certainly don’t agree with a lot of the things that come out of his mouth. Business wise, he’s a smart man, but boy (for the lack of a better term) can he make an ass of himself with some of the things he does and says. Today is one of those days. I absolutely do NOT agree with RFK or Trump on the theory that the consumption of Tylenol during pregnancy causes Autism. The first case of Autism was discovered in 1747, Tylenol wasn’t invented until 1878, so that kind of blows that theory. The links they speak of have not even been proven. Trump compared autism to “other health burdens”. Any health diagnosis can make life difficult or challenging, but in my opinion, unless you have a child or grandchild who has autism, or are someone who works with the ASD community on a daily basis, y...

  Two years ago on 9/18/23 my world changed a bit. I held my mom’s hand as her life here on earth ended. There was chaos echoing in the room but it was like time stood still in that brief moment. I kissed her cheek and told her I loved her, as I’m sure her soul was entering Heaven. Letting go was hard, but I was grateful to be by her side at the end of her life.   Grief has a way of marking time, last year, this year and probably every September 18th for the rest of my life, I felt and will feel the weight of that day. I have replayed memories of her in my mind, heard her voice in my thoughts and wished I had one more moment with her, to give her a hug or to laugh together the way we often did. However, on September 18, 2023 God wrote a new chapter in our family’s story. On the very day I lost my mom, my granddaughter was born. Her name is Finnley Hope. That day was bittersweet, it felt like Heaven and earth collided. The circle of life became so real in the moment. Finnley’s ...

So many emotions today, anger, sadness, disbelief, disgust. This date has been hard and a somber day every year since 2001, when evil attacked our nation. Today hurts just as much as it did back then. Yes, the number of lives lost this week by hatred, that were reported, were not as many as the 2,977 lives that were taken on 9/11/2001, but the hatred is the same. Just this week we have seen another school shooting which sadly has become normal to our nation, a few weeks ago, an innocent, 23 year old woman, Iryna Zarutska, was brutally stabbed and murdered on a train and yesterday, political activist, Christian, author, podcaster, co-founder of “Turning Point”, father, husband and son, Charlie Kirk got murdered because of his faith and political views. So much for diversity.  Although I am still very sad today about Charlie, I am so angry and I believe anger is a proper response to something like this. Even Jesus got angry, it’s mentioned several times in the gospels. I was watching...

  Today was one of those days that will stay tucked in my heart and my memory for a long time, if not forever. I met my son Seth and his two little ones, Lilly (aka Lillikins) and Elijah at the park. The moment I arrived, my granddaughter’s big, beautiful, brown eyes lit up as she spotted me from across the playground, her face breaking into the best and biggest smile, while running toward me with her arms stretched out, she yelled “GRAMMMMYYYYYY” with all the excitement and love a little voice could hold. She ran straight into my arms as I scooped her up and she gave me the best hug.  It was such a simple moment, but it was the highlight of my day. There’s something about being a Grammy that words can’t fully capture. It’s the joy of watching your children parent, the sweetness of being loved by little ones without condition, and the blessing of being someone’s safe place. Lilly’s hug reminded me that these fleeting moments matter more than anything else. The dishes, the erra...

Sometimes I wonder if people get sick of me writing about Mike’s health. I often hesitate before sharing my feelings on the subject thinking maybe people don’t want to keep hearing about it. Maybe it sounds repetitive, maybe people are sick of hearing the same struggles from blog post to blog post. But the truth is, this is my life, my blog and my stress relief. If my readers are tired of it, they can choose not to continue to follow my blog.  I know not every post will be light hearted or full of encouragement and faith. I mean, I never lose my faith completely, I’d be lost without it, but to be honest, some days, my faith grows weary. Some days I will simply write about my honest and raw feelings. Sometimes I feel like writing helps me breathe through the heavy concerns that weigh on my mind and my heart. Last night my heart ached, watching how much pain he was in. There is never a day without pain for him, but some days are worse than others. Last night was one of those bad nigh...

  The long weekend came and like most of them, it went in the blink of an eye. I started out with a mental list of all I wanted and needed to get done. Friday I spent working at my second job and Saturday I took Mike to dialysis in the morning, went grocery shopping, came home, put the groceries away, made Oscar’s food for the week, cut all the over growth of vines off my front deck and pruned the raspberry bushes. Then I went and picked up my step father to get him out of the house and went back to pick Mike up and bring him home from dialysis. Sunday I washed a few windows, refilled the bird feeders, took down and washed my kitchen curtains, reorganized our canned goods and set up my table in my craft room to get ready to start crafting for the upcoming fairs. Today I went to Walmart to fill up some water jugs (our water sucks) and picked up a few other things. At home, I got out the saw and cut a few pieces of wood in prep for the upcoming crafts. Put together a new over the sin...