A Quick Story Years ago, when Mikelle and I were living together in our high-rise condo in Denver, an older gentleman moved into the unit across the hall. He had lived a big life. He was a retired deputy director of the FAA, had owned his own home, traveled, worked, and built a career filled
At the Intersection. Read More »
August is a funny month. The crickets are chirping. And according to my Great-Aunt Bernice, that means the first frost is six weeks away. I have no idea if Great-Aunt Bernice was scientifically accurate, but I’m not about to argue with her. She had a way of saying things that made you believe she knew.
Still Becoming. Summer, uncertainty, and making room for what comes next. Read More »
Six Steps for Building a Life That Can Bend Without Breaking Years ago, I wrote a blog called Five Steps to Secure Your Child’s Future. President Obama was in office, sequestration was the word everyone was trying to understand, and deep federal spending cuts were beginning to move from Washington into the programs families like
Seeing the Forest for the Trees A few weeks ago, while hiking in a forest heading up to a small hot springs with some friends, I stood in a forest that had once been consumed by fire. Blackened trunks still marked the landscape, reminders of what had been lost. Yet beneath them, young trees stretched
Belonging Is Built One Choice at a Time Read More »
Is This Radical? There is something quietly radical about gathering people together simply to listen. Not to debate. Not to persuade. Not to win. Just to listen long enough for another human being to feel seen. The Shining Beautiful Heartbeat That is the heartbeat beneath Community: The Structure of Belonging by Peter Block — the
The Places Between Us, Why Belonging Still Matters. Read More »
No matter how the night before went — whether it was one of those restless nights helping Mikelle up several times, adjusting blankets, repositioning pillows, offering reassurance in the dark, or one of the rare and treasured nights of solid sleep — the morning always comes. And with it, the rhythm of care begins again.
The Work That Happens Before Sunrise: The Quiet Architecture of Care Read More »
Medicaid cuts, system accountability, and the quiet work of holding care together. Mikelle’s life works because of her team—the steady, intelligent, creative, and caring women who show up every day and make it possible for her to live a full and meaningful life in her community. The other morning, I sat at the kitchen table
Change The winds of change have arrived this March, along with summer temperatures. Out here in Colorado, we know something about change. From the weather to the headlines, it seems everything is changing and probably is where you live, too. A clear morning can turn into a towering thunderstorm by afternoon. The sky darkens without
When the Budget Tightens: I remember those that came before me. Read More »
And, still laughing. There’s a particular kind of laughter that shows up when people have lived through enough systems change to know two things at once: that the work matters deeply—and that taking ourselves too seriously won’t get us very far. That spirit framed our recent conversation with Cary Griffin, a longtime leader and truth-teller
Still Working. Still Believing. Still Building Opportunity. Read More »
And Still, We Begin I don’t know about you, but I have mixed feelings about the start of a new year. Some years feel like an adventure waiting to happen. Mikelle may have opportunities just over the horizon—new ideas, new connections, new ways to grow her work and her life in
And, Still We Begin…again. Read More »
