Category: Family
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I turn 39 tomorrow. Birthdays aren’t really the same anymore. It’s less about getting older and more about taking inventory. Not just of what I’ve “accomplished,” but what I’ve been given. This year wasn’t easy. There are prayers I’ve prayed that still have not been answered. Relationships that still ache. Questions that remain unanswered. And…
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There was a time in my life – a couple of decades, really – when every difficult conversation felt like a fight for survival. If I didn’t explain myself perfectly, I’d be misunderstood.If I didn’t defend myself, people would assume the worst.If I didn’t speak up, my feelings wouldn’t matter. Looking back, I realize that…
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When I made a commitment to become someone I could tolerate, I sincerely thought the changes I would make would be dramatic. Huge breakthroughs. Personality makeover. As if something would click in my brain and I’d think, “Yep, never doing that bad habit again for the rest of my life…” But the biggest changes in…
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Today is Independence Day. As Americans, we tend to celebrate independence as something unquestionably good. Freedom. Strength. Self-sufficiency. The ability to stand on our own. And those things have their place. But I have also learned that personal independence comes with a price. Especially when it is learned and not necessarily chosen. I didn’t become…
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I am going to be sharing something today that is exceptionally private. To me. And once you finish reading this, you’re going to think, “Seriously? THAT is private?“ The answer is a resounding “yes.” I guess it wasn’t long after my daughter left home that I took a hard look at my life and realized…
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If you are new here, you may have questions about my blog name. Raspberry Iced M. It’s a fair question. To answer that question, I have to rewind time. About 20 years ago, Sonic aired this commercial advertising raspberry iced tea: For reasons I still cannot adequately explain… I laugh every time I watch it.…
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I’m taking a break from my usual content to share some completely useless facts that I know, in hopes that it will distract me from the grief I am currently processing. And on that note, I don’t want a funeral – but if I did – I’d probably have to hire people to show up…
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As I have mentioned, I go to therapy every Tuesday. Today was no different. 8 a.m. It’s the same routine. Drive in silence. Park the car. Enter the office. Grab Kleenex. Drop my keys and phone on the couch beside me so that I’m not tempted to fidget. We talked about something today that I…
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The kindest thing we can do for someone is listen. Not fix. Not advise. Not correct. Not compare. Not explain why that person “shouldn’t” feel the way that they feel. Not rationalize. Just listen. And for some reason, that is much harder than it sounds. Most of us listen to respond. I’ve caught myself doing…
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I have never been great at choosing my battles. Because I chose all of them. Give me all the fights. I thought maturity meant addressing everything. Every misunderstanding.Every criticism.Every assumption.Every slight.Every opportunity to defend myself. I thought that if I explained myself clearly enough, people would get it. Get me.If I corrected the record often…
Raspberry Iced M 