Coffee and Contemplation

As I walked into my mom’s house, I was met with a whiff of the familiar. It reminded me that there’s a moment each October when the air itself seems to remember. You step outside, coffee in hand, and the world greets you with a fragrance that feels like déjà vu — damp leaves softened…

My age has snuck up on me—not loudly or rudely, but subtly, like sunlight shifting across the floor until suddenly it’s dusk. It hit me the first time I realized my co-worker was my son’s age. I remember sitting across from him in a meeting, listening to his ideas, and thinking, “He could have grown…

A dear friend—someone I’ve known for over twenty years, whose child is my child’s best friend—has been diagnosed with stage four ovarian cancer. The news was devastating for all of us who love her. It brought to mind that timeless question: Why do bad things happen to such good people? But amidst the heartbreak, a quiet…

“You can choose your friends, but you sho’ can’t choose your family.” That famous quote from Harper Lee’s, To Kill a Mockingbird, got me thinking about my “chosen” friends—the ones who shape our lives in meaningful ways. Do you have that one friend who, despite the miles between you, makes it feel like no time has passed…