Lizard, Thank you for breaking me in back when I turned 22. There was nothing Taylor Swift about it. Your dad and I tied the knot three weeks after I graduated from college and three weeks after my birthday, and I frantically searched for employment while serving as your stepmom. I felt like I was... Continue Reading →
*During the month of November, I like to write letters--and feature guest writers who write letters--to thank people and to express gratitude. Since my entire blog centers on gratitude, this letter writing project during November is just another way to express my gratitude. The act of living in gratitude is something I practice as part... Continue Reading →
As I gear up to go back to work full-time this fall, transitioning from an adjunct instructor to a full-time English instructor, I find myself fluctuating between excitement and eager anticipation and anxiety and grief as I let go of this period of my life--the stay-at-home mom phase. No longer will Maggie's cute babbling on... Continue Reading →
Day 25 in the Dear Gratitude project is submitted by yours truly :). Dear Need, I first remember meeting you, Need, when my father fell from his heroic platform in my mind. Grappling with drug addiction, he stood in our living room in Augusta, Kansas, in 1984, and admitted that he had fallen for Caroline.... Continue Reading →
*Day 18 of the Dear Gratitude project is really special; my former boss and friend, Jenny Cannon, shares her reflections on her decision to forgo having an amniocentesis procedure prior to delivering her daughter, Claire, who was diagnosed with Down syndrome at birth.* It has been six months. Six months since I anxiously timed contractions... Continue Reading →
*Today's post is a three-in-one: three first-time guest writers, who happen to be children and siblings, share their gratitude in these inspiring, unedited posts. These kids are amazing, and so are their parents, Jessica Cline-Beaver and Luke Beaver, who I had the privilege of knowing in college. It's worth your time to check out Jessica's... Continue Reading →
*I'm so thankful for Dr. Teresa Burns Murphy for sharing this piece!* With our book satchels on our arms, my sister Liz and I tumbled out of our dad’s Ford Galaxie 500. We crunched across the winter grass and bounded up the concrete steps that led to our grandmother’s white frame house. Our car coats... Continue Reading →
Cupcakes and gratitude go together really well. I don't say that to satisfy my sweet tooth or to justify my baking hobby, although my sweet tooth combined with my baking hobby does tend to get the better of me on a regular basis. Recently, my neighbor's mom passed away. In the past year, I've watched... Continue Reading →
Gratitude rarely actually changes things. Not in my life, anyway. Things stay the same. Circumstances come and go, as all circumstances do. My family members who irk me continue to irk me. The one who never says "I love you" may never say "I love you." My sisters will probably never agree with my lifestyle... Continue Reading →
*Thanks to my friend Betty Gail Jones for sharing today's post. Happy Mother's Day, BG!* This is part of a note from my youngest daughter left in my Mother’s Day gift, a book, two years ago. She and her family were wrapping up plans for a move overseas at the time. It had been several... Continue Reading →
Gratitude Cup 