Mental Health

It's Just Stuff, but It's Okay to Cry Baton Rouge is starting to get back into our homes to assess damage, salvage anything still usable, and begin to gut and clean. Pictures of rooms with shifted and toppled furniture and soggy sheet rock are starting to fill my personal Facebook newsfeed. Captions to these pictures are mostly some version of "It's just stuff, we're okay, we're together, we're thankful." Yes, it's just stuff, and most stuff can be replaced, but so much of it has value far beyond what money can buy. Our homes are more than dwelling places. We arrange and decorate and build to reflect who we are and what we value. Our homes are where we bring our...

Today was a normal day in my book. Kade had a dentist appointment, and my mom watched my two littles. After swinging by to pick them up, she asked me to stay for lunch. We spent most of the afternoon catching up and watching the kids play. Then, lunch was over and I was headed out the door with a dish of leftovers to bring my husband at work. As I walked out the door, I thought about which way I’d take to get to him. Naturally I would have taken Airline Highway all the way up from Siegen Lane to where he works in Port Allen, but instantly I wondered whether Airline was the best route to take given...

Disclaimer: This is not a "poor me" post; I've CHOSEN a more positive life. At 12, it's typical to start rebelling against your mother. At 18, it's typical to ignore all the advice your mother gives you about college choices. At 25ish, it's typical to START believing that your mother might actually know what she is talking about. At 30ish, it's typical to admit you enjoy your mother's company and ask for advice, help and opinions about raising kids. Eventually, becoming best friends. But what do you when those typical moments are denied to you because your mother chose suicide over her family. (That was probably the hardest thing I've ever written down on paper.) I never got to go to a mother/daughter brunch. I...