At 35, spending Christmas at my childhood home, I felt like I'd failed the fearless girl I used to be. Then I discovered joy isn't a feeling—it's the source of all gladness.
Stuck in the Attic: When Depression Crashed My Christmas Engagement
Getting trapped in my attic while looking for Christmas boxes became the perfect metaphor for the depression I'd been hiding from my fiancé. Sometimes asking for help is the only way down.
My Check Engine Light Won’t Stop—But Neither Will This Teacher’s Christmas Comedy
Teaching Chekhov's comedy while my life feels like Shakespeare's tragedy. Seven dimensions of wellness spinning out of orbit, but Charming and I built a Dickens village anyway. Maybe the genre depends on how we react after the conflict—not the broken car, broken plans, or broken sleep.
Ice Skating at the National Gallery Taught Me I’ve Been Bracing for Falls My Whole Life
Charming and I skated The Mall in D.C., but I kept tensing for the fall that never came. After 15 years of fierce independence, I decorate Christmas trees alone and skate like I live—bracing for impact. Maybe learning to trust a teammate is just another grammar rule worth breaking.
Making Bracelets for Grams: When Dementia Steals Your Person
At Thanksgiving, I brought beads to make bracelets with Grams like we used to during my divorce. Charming met Nonna, but he'll never meet the fierce woman who saved me with colorful conversations.
Dr. Bogin Would Be Proud: How My Therapist’s Legacy Lives On in 987 Tuesday Nights
Dr. Bogin would smile behind his round black frames if he could meet Charming at our Thanksgiving party. He taught me that no day is wasted, even the 5,127 we spent apart. Now I see: God doesn't work in clean slates—He works in yearbook themes where everything connects.
Duck Beach Dreams: When Childhood Expectations Meet Marriage Reality
At the Outer Banks beach house where Charming vacationed as a child, I realized I'd been planning my future children's lives based on my own childhood. Sometimes home isn't a place—it's a person.
When Students Write Bucket Lists and God Writes Mine: A Teacher’s November Rain
My sophomores wrote bucket lists while Bobby McFerrin sang "Don't Worry, Be Happy," but I couldn't stop thinking about my upcoming marriage and Paul's letter to the Philippians. Sometimes the best lesson plans teach the teacher.
My Student Anna: When God Answers Prayers with a Teenage Helper
I prayed for strength to survive losing my second yearbook class. God sent me Anna, a seventeen-year-old who thinks like me and holds up my arms like Moses at the Red Sea. Sometimes prayers are answered in INFJ teenagers.
Living with ADHD While Planning a Wedding: Why I Can’t Focus
Save the Date cards sit unfinished while my mind jumps between yearbook deadlines and Charming's need for attention. Sometimes being newly diagnosed with ADHD explains everything—and complicates everything else.
Writer's Growth 