Hi, Nate… And here we are at high school. You are so ready. You told me the other day that you were bored at the end of middle school and that wasn’t good for you. I see this. You’re at your best when you feel like you’re doing something epic, fresh, and thrilling. High school...Continue Reading
Dear Sam, As I write this, you’re sitting next to me, sweating through AP History notes. Maybe this is the theme of your junior year—sweat. That certainly has been the theme of the past few months. You sweat so much every day. Yes, of course from all the running you’re doing, but it’s more than...Continue Reading
Dear Elisabeth, You have more character, more integrity, more deep strength than anyone I know. You are never shallow. You prefer fresh-faced to make-up, your ancient iPhone to the 15, talking to your grandparents to TikTok, baking bread to fast food. Most of all, you show undying loyalty and vicious protection of those you love. ...Continue Reading
Welcome to Houston, the most ethnically diverse city in the U.S.Our people are loyal and loud. The brutal heat, constant traffic, and devastating hurricanes unite us in deep and important ways. And so, when it comes to welcoming visitors, we do it with confidence.Welcome to the very best big city in the world. Here’s what...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
When the Astros WON THE WORLD SERIES, our city went crazy with joy and relief. Thanks to Hurricane Harvey, the past two months had been about loss in our city. After so many days of only soggy carpet and demolished homes, Houston now had trophies and homeruns. We were ready to party. So, we did what people always do when the monumental, the...Continue Reading
As I’m writing this, a bright yellow trash crane is making its way down our neighborhood. It’s finally hauling away the Harvey Heaps from the front of the flooded homes on the other side of our subdivision. The insides of our neighbors’ beautiful homes have been gutted. All of their stuff—the broken cabinets, the bloated...Continue Reading
When Hurricane Harvey dumped 50 inches of rain on our Houston suburb of Katy, everything I had secretly feared happened. We didn’t sleep night after night because of tornadoes; we watched with terror as the homes of many (many!) dear friends flooded . . . and with no flood insurance; our home was in a...Continue Reading
Yesterday’s historic flooding in Houston showed a lot about our city—that we have too much concrete and not enough ditches, that Houstonians are the most fantastic helpers, and that weather can still paralyze our beehive highway system. For our family, the day off revealed something about us. It took until the afternoon, but we finally...Continue Reading
The kids and I have spent the first two weeks of the summer in the Memorial area, where we used to live. Everyday I dropped them off at camp at Christ Memorial Lutheran and then worked on my book in a Starbucks. The Memorial area is also called the Energy Corridor, which is where most...Continue Reading
