Outed!

May 11, 2016.Reading time 5 minutes.

We all have little secrets – skeletons in our closet that we don’t want revealed. Some of us are hiding mouse-sized skeletons and some can barely keep the door closed because of the behemoth bones crowding every square inch of our tiny coat closet. My bag of bones burst through the door last weekend and it wasn’t pretty. I got outed.

I’ve always maintained that I’m not bright enough to keep a secret for very long – which turned out to be true. No one would have to waterboard me to get me to bare it, I would just let something slip in casual conversation that gave away whatever I was trying to hide. With most people, I have been able to stay quiet and hold my secret inside. But not in front of my family – to be quiet in front of them is suspicious in and of itself. But this time I kept my mouth shut! Even though it gnawed away at me, I stayed quiet and they still found out. Now they are judging me. Read More

Three Here, One Home

May 8, 2016.Reading time 9 minutes.

Happy Mother’s Day to all of you mothers! Even though I know this day will bring some pain, I wish an especially joyous day to the wonderful lady I helped to become a mother. I have never seen a better one. I have also never seen one cry so much and although I am not the cause of (most of) the tears, I am sorry for that.

Please allow me a moment to brag on my wife. We have never had a large budget, but whatever she could invest, she put into building our home – not the physical structure but the walls of love that hold us up. Home has always been a safe place for our girls – a refuge. It is a place where they feel free to be themselves. They played pretend, dressed up, built blanket forts, made crafts, held concerts, snuggled, read, stayed in jammies all day, ate chocolate breakfasts, taught each other school, colored, and made wonderful make-believe worlds filled with Barbies, princesses, and unicorns. Sometimes they even fought – but they always made up. The home she built is a beautiful sanctuary to the mean world that lies outside our little acreage.