Tales of the Ordinary Days

In early 2009 my company won the "Young Professionals Choice Award". The timing of this award corresponded with a life-changing time for me. I was just a few raw months into my divorce. The particular day of receiving word of the award started with an e-mail blast to our office proudly announcing our company's recognition of this honor. It gave me a bit of a smile and some added pep on a bleak Nebraska winter morning. As I went about my day during the busyness of tax season, one of my partners popped his head into my office. “Hey, do you think you could give our acceptance speech at the award luncheon next week?” "Hmmm,” I thought. I sure didn’t see this coming. As he looked at me while asking the question, there was no doubt what I saw in his eyes. It was a look I had become quite accustomed to seeing during that time in my life. It was the look of sympathy. I have never understood the value of a palm reading when you can see everything in a person’s e...

Grant and I...Easter dinner at the Outback This morning I vividly remembered back to an Easter six years ago. I hadn't thought about this for some time. But somehow this seemingly forgotten memory resurrected itself.  Easter weekend was tough that year. Thus why I have likely tried to forget. But with each passing year, I see this journey as a lesson and the tough times, ultimately a blessing. My finding a family video labeled "Christmas 2008" probably stirred this memory. Christmas Day of 2008 was just two weeks after our filing for divorce. The news was an unpleasant surprise to our three boys. Still in shock, this was our first post-divorce holiday with my attempting to create normalcy as a 'new kind of family'. Their dad and I were continuing holiday traditions; trying to keep intact our cherished Christmas morning of opening gifts. As I viewed the abandoned video footage on my computer, Garrett watched over my shoulder. What I thought w...

The final picture...filter applied Tonight I am finally getting together with my friend, Angelique. It's been way too long. With a close friendship and our birthdays just short of a month apart, we find ourselves celebrating many of life's milestones together. Although we have know each other since our youngest children were in kindergarten, the closeness of our friendship began shortly after our 40th celebrations. Like our birthdays, our divorces coincided in time as well. Now with 48 years under our belts, about eight of those years as single parents, we have experienced many highs and lows of life together. Our memories are full of our adjusting to single-motherhood. Together. Stories from our joint family vacations are reminisced by our young adult children with great laughter. Mother's Days have included family golf outings and brunch. Our kids have a close kinship with each other, just like their moms. I have no doubt that collectively we will always have ...

The cropped picture A rainy Saturday in Omaha. I have experienced many of these over my 27 years of calling Omaha home. This March day that had bursts warmth along with the precipitation, held nothing of particular difference over the early spring days of past. But that's exactly why it was such a great day. The ordinary days full of old friends, new faces, family, and the comforts of home rank high on my list. With lots of recent travel and fun on the road, the rhythm of normalcy within the heartbeat of our Omaha home has been a welcomed haven. It truly is the little things in life that bring the the greatest pleasures. Today's blog post is simply going to recap my ordinary day. And since a picture is worth a thousand words, I am going to use my pictures from the day in telling my story (Instagram meets blog post??)... __________________________________________________________ The original 'uncropped' picture. We obviously aren't good at photo boot...

Day 90 of my '90 days off' started with a 6:00 a.m. wake-up call from our alarm clock. Deep in sleep, I was unaware where I was at; Omaha, Denver, Remsen? My slumber was brought back to pleasant reality with a soft kiss to my forehead followed by Garrett rolling out of bed. Definitely Denver. And I'm an adult. Childhood years in Remsen are behind me. Garrett worked on his computer in the next room while I finish a great book. In the dark of early morning, 'When Breath Becomes Air' lit up my iPad and my conscientiousness as I read the final words of the book as told by Paul Kalanithi and his widow, Lucy. This book was particularly meaningful to me as I had just met Paul's family when visiting my parents in Kingman, Arizona. It covers life and death, so eloquently written by the young neurosurgeon who died just a year ago at age 39. As a new staple in my 'must read' library, this book follows the great work of Atul Gawande. It reinforced to ...