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Author Archives: Jean
A birthday means a fresh start
Today is one of my favorite days. It’s my beloved firstborn Isabella’s birthday, meaning it’s also my 27th anniversary at the greatest job I’ve ever had. I love birthdays, my own and everyone else’s, and I especially love to celebrate … Continue reading
A year of firsts without my mom, thinking of all the “lasts”
It’s been a year since my mom passed. A year of firsts have come and gone. First holidays without her. First birthday with no call from her. Her first birthday that we didn’t celebrate with her came and went. And … Continue reading
Love is all around, especially in tiny humans
My favorite opening scene of any movie has to be “Love, Actually.” Watching the arrivals gate at Heathrow with all the people embracing…as Hugh Grant says: “If you look for it, I’ve got a sneaking suspicion that love actually is … Continue reading
Raising good citizens in the land of Internet trolls
If you ask any of my daughters what their dad’s and my mission is in raising them they will, without hesitation, answer: to raise good citizens. It’s a four-word mission statement with brevity and simplicity that belies all it actually … Continue reading
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Senior year: The last college drop off and a looming fear
My oldest daughter is now a college senior. And so began the first of the lasts for her…her last college drop off. (Although I’ve since been told that senior year is a bit like Fight Club; the first rule of … Continue reading
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Tagged #family, #fear, #parenting #college #parentalpride, #relationships
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The quest for face time, not face-in-the-phone time
I was in a social media blackout. For a week. And I didn’t die. It was the lifestyle challenge of the week in the Whole Life Challenge. An eight-week online, community building habit-changing game that challenges you and your friends … Continue reading
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Tagged #disconnect, #parenting, #reconnect, #socialmediablackout, #Wholelifechallenge
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When the love of a daughter makes you say yes, and to jumping out of a perfectly good airplane
If I learned one thing in my Second City improv classes, it’s the power of yes, and. Affirming what someone says and building on it, and at all costs avoiding saying no. I definitely employ it at work, and also … Continue reading
A new washer. And a key time marker.
I bought a washing machine. I offer that sentence without fanfare. Because it is, by its nature, fanfareless. For me, buying a washing machine is a lot like buying a new hot water heater. Or tires. You need these things … Continue reading
Pass the turkey…no really, right past me.
Now that another Thanksgiving and Christmas has passed, I can disclose this secret: I have never once cooked a turkey, despite hosting Thanksgiving and Christmas more than a dozen or so times. It’s weird because I had a roommate in … Continue reading
The end of a Halloween era, aka no more Milk Duds for me
I threw out the rotting, carved pumpkin today, the last vestige of this year’s Halloween. It was time. The inside had blackened. Not in a cool, eerie Halloween way. More in a way that would prompt the neighbors to think … Continue reading
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