Uncategorized

Guess what, Mama? she asks me just moments before midnight. 50 days until graduation, she beams. Her eyes are light and she tells me she’s ready. 50 days? The words echo in my ears [...]

Oma, Opa, and my older brother. Three of my favorite people! I am the one who remains, who can tell their stories (only the stories I know, the ones they shared). These three treasured [...]

Exactly two years ago, my daughter bounded out the school doors with balloons in hand, after a goofy middle school awkward social after school event back then with helium in plastic orbs sent home [...]

I'm thinking a lot about my students and the struggles some face right now. It's a monumentally emotional time. I'm pondering how to best support them as they navigate adult problems while sixteen years [...]

These hardy columbine grow and even flourish in difficult situations and can thrive with little sunlight. When experiencing trials and suffering, it can be a challenge to search for ways to prevail, to press [...]

Recently, one of my teen daughters had a big dental procedure and was scared for it all week. And when she learned the appointment meant she’d miss a few classes, she was further disappointed [...]

Several years ago, we lived in the Chicago suburbs, and at least two feet of snow fell over the course of seven days. A full foot of snow gently fell one night after my [...]

My upcoming short story, A Splendor Among Shadows, is available for preorder! Launching into the world on 2/22/22. Amsterdam, Netherlands, 1948. As World War II concluded, the country in shambles, Vivianne Rademaker helped Amsterdam [...]

If you have suffered great losses and pain, have you noticed that seeing the world through a lens of grief means you can later observe joy and delight with greater ferocity? I don’t mean [...]

Washing dishes and Fighting off lies Jangling around in my head, Of not smart enough Or clever enough Or able Or just Enough. Tiresome nonsense. But Bubbles rise With serenading giggles And I see [...]