I generally passed on adventure. I could see the ways things could go wrong. The mountain bike could careen off the trail. I could slip under the rail of the ski lift.

It told her something that I’d never said. That I cared about her being cold. That I cared about her. In that moment, wearing her new coat, I think she knew that and so did I.

All it takes is just one person to reach out in kind ways to make a positive difference in the lives of those we touch.

he truth is that I knew, as his mother, what he needed. I knew it in my bones, in my soul. 

But the story I want to share isn’t about Hannah dying. This story is about the child she left behind.

Somehow, and call it an innate sense if you will, I felt this was a private moment. Of inspection for them, of observation for me. There are so many of these private moments, don’t you think?

It was surprisingly easy to give up most of my vices during pregnancy. I only occasionally missed that glass or two (okay, bottle) of a favorite pinot. 

Kindness, sincerely expressed by what we say and/or do, has the power to buoy our spirits and allow us, in turn, to rise up, reach out, and connect with others in caring, supportive, and collaborative ways.

I am a kind person raising a kind son. But I am not kind to myself. And I didn’t notice how mean I was until I became a mother.

When we first began trying to conceive you, I focused on remembering each detail of each day. I thought that someday you would want to know the flavor of the sky when you were made and who your parents were then