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I'm Coming Home

The past few weeks I have experienced the loss of an extended family member and a lifelong close friend, all while returning for the first week back to school after a summer break. Life and death are both so bittersweet, yet somewhere in the chaos there is an unknown balance that keeps those of us still living moving forward and seeking peace. Life is interesting. Although some are born into families of influence or privilege, you enter this world with nothing except for the environment that surrounds you. You then spend your life on earth chasing dreams and spinning your wheels, acquiring possessions that you can’t take with you when you leave. Funerals are really interesting, especially in small towns. They tend to bring together generations of people experiencing multiple levels of grief and reunite people from all walks of life. The older I get, the more I appreciate where and how I was raised, and even though I found my ticket out of a small town and have a successful career in Ho...
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Summer Hiatus to Napoli 2026

Charles and I spent the last 12 days in Napoli, Italy, with two of our nieces to celebrate their graduations from high school. For the most part, everything went off without a hitch. Despite two flights being cancelled and a couple of minor emergencies, things could have ended up worse. I always enjoy traveling with the younger generation because it’s great to see their vivid reactions to the environment. This was both of my nieces’ first trip to Europe, so like everyone who discovers it for the first time, there was a lot of vivid excitement along the way. We toured Caserta, which is the largest palace in Europe. I had never heard of it, but for Emma this was one of her bucket list items. One of my life goals has been to make it to the Amalfi Coast, and this can now be scratched off my list. We took a full-day tour with a private driver followed by a mountaintop lunch with an amazing panoramic view where we celebrated Cecilia’s birthday. Everything was picture perfect, and at this poi...
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Be There and Showing Up....

  I am 4 days into a 12-day trip to Naples, Italy (aka Napoli) with Charles and my 18- and 19-year-old nieces. This is their first time in Europe, and they are truly capturing and taking in every moment. They are from a blended family that was formed when my sister and her husband married, combining five young children who are now all emerging into adulthood. We are celebrating their high school graduations and their transition into the next phase of life and study. When the girls were very young—in first grade and pre-K—my sister became a single mom. Many times, I had to step in and assist with the kids since my sister was an elementary school teacher and the cost of childcare was barely within her budget. I would pick them up from school each day, and every year when my sister had summer in-service training, I would take a week off work and take the girls on planned adventures around Houston. At the end of the week, we would go shopping for new school shoes, which, as they grew u...
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Stirring When the Building Squeals

  The first four months of 2026 have moved at a rapid pace, and there has been a great deal unfolding in my life. I have recently stepped into a higher-level role with a nonprofit organization I have been connected to for more than 20 years. Over time, I have served as a partner, donor, researcher, and board member, and now I have the privilege of serving as executive director. It has been an incredible journey to experience this work from so many different perspectives. We are an emerging nonprofit founded by a passionate singer-songwriter who truly lives out the vision and purpose of the work we are called to do. In a relatively short time, we have grown from having no paid staff to a team of four, each compensated at varying levels as we all balance other commitments and careers. Our focus is on supporting families and students who are experiencing hardship and working to remain housed during a time when affordable housing is increasingly scarce and often overlooked in city plan...
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Transitioning to Being the Stranger While Welcoming the Stranger

  Life has an interesting way of guiding and inspiring us. We experience seasons of abundance and seasons of fathomless challenge on both micro and macro levels. As our nation grapples with global tariffs and a shifting world order, I’ll be honest: I feel very uninformed and have intentionally blocked out much of the static media. Still, I see the impacts within my chosen community. Some of my trans friends and connections have gone radio silent, fading away in fear and choosing isolation. I’ve watched highly skilled and educated friends lose senior-level positions, replaced by younger workers or AI-driven solutions. In my nonprofit work, I see an uptick in need like never before. I witness political back-and-forth and leaders speaking out of both sides of their mouths. My own workload has more than doubled, even as I try to move forward with steadiness and resolve. In my Spiritual practice of following the Rule of Benedict, I’ve been taught to welcome everyone especially strangers...
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MSC Christmas at Sea...

  This year, we chose to step away from the noise and commercialism that often surrounds Christmas in America and instead sail on the MSC Seascape out of Galveston, Texas. We traveled with two close companions of more than twenty years with whom we have shared three Christmas journeys, including our wedding in New York City in 2012, when marriage equality was still not recognized in Texas. Much has changed since then, often swiftly and without warning. I have learned to stay rooted, to resist being pulled into the constant churn of reaction, and to tend carefully to the small, faithful circle entrusted to me. One truth remains steady, when you are with those who love you fully and without condition, time loosens its grip. What remains is presence -love, peace, and a quiet joy that needs no announcement. This Christmas, we chose not to exchange gifts. The simplicity of that decision felt freeing. After twenty-three years together, Charles and I have learned that abundance is not fou...
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Only in America....

  I find myself at a point in life where I either fully embrace my surroundings, or quietly step away and never look back. Over the past couple of years I have noticed a shift in relationships and social connections while foster and embracing those I value most. I’m an emerging Gen X’er, well past mid-career, who’s taken the backroads rather than the main lanes and freeways. The journey has been good, fulfilling, and rich with unexpected beauty. I currently work 1 full-time job that provides an excellent career in higher education and benefits along with 2 part-time gigs that allows me to be creative and innovative with my time and energy. This weekend I’m blogging from a Home2 Suites by Hilton in a suburb North of Dallas, Texas, on a spontaneous road trip to visit friends one from Latin America and the other from South Africa. Both are well-educated and products of strong systems in their native homelands….add to the mix three energetic upper-elementary boys, two wise and well ma...
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