Real Life Stories

'Feet even. Square your shoulders. Look ahead. Float over roots and rocks. Breathe. I’m trying to do everything right, but it all feels wrong.'

When co-workers ask about my wedding, my reaction is rehearsed and polite. “It was great. It was amazing!” I smile and look happy. It’s a response they want to hear. What I don’t tell them is, my father was dying.

Pretty much every day for the past six years, I've worn something of my mother’s. It’s my way of continuing a conversation that ended far too soon.

I never wanted my boys to feel left out. So I spent money I didn’t have on fancy clothes and birthday parties. We couldn’t keep up.

'Mom, I want a real dress. One from the boys’ section, OK?'