When we first brought Micah home from the hospital, I thought I’d have to teach my husband, Diego, how to juggle loving a newborn and dealing with our old cat,…
GRANDPA SWEARS HE NEVER WANTED A CAT—NOW HE CAN’T SPEND FIVE MINUTES WITHOUT HER
If you ask my grandpa, he’ll tell you straight up: “I never wanted a cat in this house.” He said it the day I showed up with Nori, our rescue…
MY QUIET MORNING WITH COFFEE, A BOOK—AND AN UNINVITED (BUT WELCOME) GUEST
I thought I had the perfect setup for a lazy Saturday: my favorite bench in the park, a hot cup of coffee, Dostoyevski’s Notes from Underground, and nobody around to…
OUR BABYGIRL TOOK HER FIRST STEPS TODAY—AND IT HIT ME IN A WAY I DIDN’T EXPECT
I always imagined I’d be ready for this moment—maybe even have my phone in hand, camera rolling, everything all set up. Instead, it happened in the middle of a random…
MY NIECE TAUGHT ME THAT PASSION BEATS FEAR—EVEN IN A HOSPITAL ROOM
My niece, Lila, has always marched to her own beat. She’s the kind of kid who will turn a cardboard box into a spaceship, or spend hours filling notebooks with…
A LETTER BROUGHT MY DAD BACK FROM THE COMA—AND HE SWORE HE HEARD EVERY WORD
When my dad slipped into a coma, we all started living in this strange in-between space. The doctors kept telling us to talk to him, to play his favorite music,…
WE NEVER CARED ABOUT MARRIAGE OR KIDS—JUST US AND OUR WILD LIFE JOURNEY
People always acted like we were missing out. No white dress, no rice, no screaming kids or holiday chaos. Just the two of us, bouncing from one random adventure to…
THEY HELD HANDS UNTIL HER LAST BREATH—AND THEIR LOVE STILL TEACHES ME EVERYTHING
I always thought love stories were about grand gestures, dramatic speeches, the stuff you see in old movies. But watching my grandparents together, especially at the end, changed my mind…
I CAN’T BELIEVE I GOT TO LIVE THIS DAY—WATCHING MY DAUGHTER WALK ONTO THE SCHOOL BUS ALONE
This morning felt like any other, but deep down, I knew it wasn’t. I woke up early, packed her lunch (with extra snacks, just in case), and made sure her…
I FOUND THIS OLD PICTURE OF ME AT 13—AND IT MADE ME REALIZE CHANGE ISN’T JUST NORMAL, IT’S NECESSARY
I stumbled across this photo last night while scrolling through some old family albums. There I was—barefoot in the hallway, hands stuffed awkwardly in my pockets, hair longer than I…