A month ago, our daughter Catie left for her summer at Camp Lone Star. She’s serving as a counselor. We’re happy for her to have this unique, wonderful experience. And we’re sad for us because we miss her so much. Last week, I got to serve as the V(ery) I(nspirational) P(erson) at CLS. Besides the...Continue Reading
Truths I learned from our freshmen twins & their first Homecoming… Some things change. After Catie’s four Homecomings, I kind of felt like a Homecoming veteran. I am not that. Because HoCo is really different as a mom of one independent girl than it is for two freshmen—especially when one of those freshmen is a...Continue Reading
Dear God, First, Lord, thanks for letting us get this far. Thanks for keeping her safe—through the years of croup, and riding her bike to the park alone, and driving alone on rainy Houston highways. Truly. I was terrified. I should have known You were in control. And thanks for college, God. Thanks for helping...Continue Reading
Dear Nate… (on your first day of Seventh Grade) This year is already different. You are different. You’re growing up, exploring everything, and very much transforming into your own person. I’m honored and exhilarated to watch you become your own, unique person. In a family of runners, you’re trying football instead. All your siblings hated...Continue Reading
Dear Sam (on your first day of high school), Here we are—fifteen years old, freshman in high school, and learning to drive. It feels exactly right for you to be tackling these milestones, and also a bit startling. To see you in the halls of high school, with boys who are 6’2 and girls who...Continue Reading
Dear Mom of a New Senior- This will be one of the biggest years of your life. I just finished it and can now see what I didn’t know. Mostly, this year will feel like planning a big wedding, with celebrations for ten months straight. Then, right after the big event, you prepare for the...Continue Reading
2022 I could write a book about this one. Not necessarily the advice I have but rather the complete shock I’m in to be so sad the second semester of my oldest’s senior year. Here’s the deal: I have vowed for 17 years to not be a clingy, needy mom when we got to this...Continue Reading
Dear Nate (on your first day of Middle School)… Yesterday you told me that you needed to get out of the house. We’d been inside for three days, thanks to Hurricane Nicholas and the chaos it brought to our town. You said you needed to “find something more interesting.” So, we went for a walk,...Continue Reading
The other day a memory popped up of you on your first day of Preschool. I was struck by how your first-day grin has not changed. Back then—and on the first day of eighth grade—your smile looks the same: excited, silly, anxious, and grinning like you have a secret. That was twelve years ago and,...Continue Reading
