Bereaved and Blessed

Making Room

August 4, 2015

Yesterday I was determined to “catch up” on putting away my laundry (i.e. attack the pile of clean clothes that had accumulated on the floor on my side of our bedroom). I was off to a good start and had gotten about 2/3 of it in their places when I noticed 2 things: #1 – […]

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A Closer Look

June 19, 2015

20 years ago, during the spring semester of my sophomore year of college at the University of Illinois, this is what my dresser looked liked in the room I shared with two friends, living in our Alpha Phi Sorority house. You can see that I like pictures, trinkets, and mementos. I am a very sentimental […]

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Actions Speak Louder

June 18, 2015

It’s not enough. Listening is good. Empathy is admirable. But, we need to do something. I get why it’s important to pick our battles. However, that’s not an excuse to never stand up for what we believe in. Without taking a stand, then they are just words. So what? I wish I had an answer. […]

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What’s Your Alibi?

June 11, 2015

Where were you on Wednesday, January 13, 1999? Seriously. Do you remember? Anything? I was in grad school at the University of Illinois in Urbana Champaign, getting my masters in Leisure Studies (for real, that is something one can major and get multiple degrees in). I am pretty sure I was back from winter break, […]

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What Do You Hear?

June 1, 2015

I was just telling Abby about the voices I hear in my head… Example #1: When I forget to say, “please,” I hear my mom in my head saying, “Say, please, mom.” Example #2: When I say “good,” instead of “well,” when I should have, I hear my dad saying, “Or even, well…” Do you […]

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Gatekeeping (12th Edition)

May 31, 2015

How are you feeling? What are your plans for tomorrow? Welcome to the twelfth edition of my “Gatekeeping” blog series. I shared the back story of these simple and yet powerful questions in this post. It’s been almost two years since we last did some Gatekeeping here. Wow. I can hardly believe that… I was about to […]