• Living Vertically

    Count Up to 60

    The Six-O. It is a milestone we’ve already celebrated for my husband and two of my sisters over the last few years. Some of my closest friends have already crossed this threshold and they are brilliant, vibrant, still living people. Sixty looks good based on those people. They are each living an ever-increasingly vibrant life — clearer, wiser, more generous,…

  • Living Vertically

    Fathers & Good Byes

    So much death. It’s a heavy time. I know several people, close friends, who said goodbye to fathers last year. The existential shift is real.  I have now said goodbye to three Dads in my life. Actually, two were ‘goodbyes’ the  other was more of a “wait, what?“ Or … maybe the moment of a father dying is always a…

  • Living Vertically

    The Narrative We Choose

    My beautiful mother could cast a narrative of her life that’s very different than the story she actually lives out daily, and has lived for the last 50 years. She could wear righteous anger over betrayal and loss. She could carry that badge and wave it around, ever so subtly, to keep her place as a person who deserves more…

  • Rainbow!
    Living Vertically,  Media & Integrity

    Unique Rainbow Theory

    In a social media environment where the curated messaging of our Instagram feed has the power to make us feel many things – motivated, inspired, discouraged, inferior – I like to remind my family of the Unique Rainbow Theory. Or URT. (It’s my theory; still working on the name.) The URT is the principle that when we see a rainbow…

  • Living Vertically,  Our Kids, Our Family,  The Mystery of Marriage

    *Merry Christmas from 2020

    We’ve enjoyed receiving the picture cards from our friends around the country, counting blessings and finding the joy of this ______ year.  This impossible, unprecedented, ridiculous, frustrating, agonizing, surprising, miraculous year. For the first time in decades, I haven’t had the mental ability to create one of our epic family collage storytelling cards for 2020. Literally it turned into a…

  • Featured,  Living Vertically

    Smile Anyway

    I’ve always placed a high value on smiling; a smile is good for the universe. Our own smile can cure so many ills, and even can predict our lifespan. (what??) And without a doubt, it makes the day brighter for everyone (admit it). This week I’m traveling through airports for the first time in many months and one of my…

  • Living Vertically,  Our Kids, Our Family,  The Story

    Secrets Are Hard

    I am terrible at secrets.  If there’s a surprise planned, my kids have generally learned that I should only be told what is safe to leak, which I would offer is strategically helpful for the sophisticated surprise planner. I’m an open book, unless it’s a matter of privacy or there’s an NDA somewhere. In broad terms, I’ve become a freak…

  • Living Vertically,  Media & Integrity,  Serving, Leading

    The Currency of Story

    by Suzy Sammons “Narrative is our culture’s currency; he who tells the best story wins.” — Bobette Buster As Christians we follow the greatest storyteller of all time. Jesus of Nazareth taught a small band of disciples, and changed the world with stories that delivered radical messages of love and transformation. As His modern followers we have worked hard to do…

  • Living Vertically,  Our Kids, Our Family

    Shredding is How We Grow

    Physiologically speaking, our bodies are miracles of growth and healing. When we get a cut on our finger, the white blood cells in our body rush to the site to increase cell production and heal the injury. This is a simple metaphor for community, right? The advanced science of our physical make-up is often relatable to the needs we have…

  • The Mystery of Marriage,  The Story

    Understanding is My Superpower

    It is my nemesis, this unwritten book. The wild story that might not sound polished and eloquent. It may upset Catholics and Evangelicals alike. My siblings might think I’m not being fair to my father, or too dramatic and I understand their point of view. My story may upset people who don’t realize the “before” me, and think I’m betraying…

  • Living Vertically

    Just This

    When you go from non-stop, always-on, packing-unpacking, carpooling and juggling, to this, it feels like a jolt. The slamming stop of a rollercoaster, and we’re all on it in our own little cars, looking around making sure everyone’s ok. Often when we take a vacation, it always takes a few days to really get unplugged and focused on the “just…

  • Living Vertically,  Our Kids, Our Family

    The Calm in Raising a Caboose

    When I found out I was pregnant at 41, there was an element of physical fear, for sure. After all, my girlie-parts were supposed to be winding down, weren’t they? And my husband was completely sterile from cancer treatment 10 years prior. (About which my more savvy girlfriends chided, “uh, you fell for that?”) This wasn’t supposed to be possible…