The Journey: Until the moment I stepped into the Psychiatric Emergency Department at our local hospital, I had no idea the speed of my son’s breakdown. I was totally and completely floored. It wasn’t as though I didn’t know he was depressed; he’d been in counseling for years. I knew he disliked school and I had […]
Summer’s Here
July is flying by and it’s been an exciting one so far! While summer may be the time for dancing in the streets, truth be told the weather here has been a little chilly! My friend Lisa from Healing From Burnout even posted a comparison of her Australian winter temperatures with ours here in the Bay […]
Caregiving and Pitfalls after Crisis
Recently I had the privilege of sharing an hour on Life Transitions with Nancy Mae, News for the Soul Radio. Nancy and I talked about the challenges of Caregiving and how my own personal journey, supporting my son through crisis, inspired my work with Caregivers and those desiring to thrive after crisis. During this interview, […]
A Different Day
If you have been reading the blog for awhile, you have no doubt come across my post from a few years ago where I finally share the story of how both my children estranged themselves from me (If you missed it, you can read it here) Since the truth telling post, which was incredibly empowering to […]
Caring for the Caregiver
Caring for the needs of a loved one is often incredibly rewarding. Knowing that the best care decisions are being made and that the paperwork, insurance claims and many other day-to-day needs of the loved one are being addressed, should help caregivers sleep better at night. But are they sleeping? One of the most challenging […]
A Caregivers Path
A few months ago, I was asked to share my story with a local Caregivers organization. As I was reading it over the weekend, I realized that many of my readers may not know the story of how I became a Caregiver. If you are a Parent/Caregiver, welcome! I am glad to have you along on […]
You Better Lose Yourself
“You better lose yourself in the music, the moment You own it, you better never let it go You only get one shot, do not miss your chance to blow This opportunity comes once in a lifetime” – Eminem (more) So here I am quoting Eminem right? Well I can tell you that this song […]
Guest Post: Mental Illness, Parenting and Roller Coasters
That familiar whirling blur of anticipation, worry, hope and fear swirls in my gut. My palms sweat and my heart pounds faster. My mind races through what might happen this time, what might go wrong. I’m nesting again. It feels just like it did twenty-three years ago when I was expecting the birth of my […]
The Fear Factor
Often when we think about fear, we associate it with things that we are unable or are afraid to do. Fear is a powerful emotion. Its internal alarm system in our bodies is useful because it lets us know when we are in danger, giving us the opportunity to make different choices in order to avoid harm […]
Guest Post: No More Excuses
Sometime in my twenties as a young mother and new teacher, I heard the saying: “Excuses are like belly buttons, everybody’s got one…” I believe the rest of the saying was “…and they’re all full of crud” or something like that. But for my purposes as both a teacher and a mom, I didn’t need […]