In 2005 my wife and I reconnected after originally meeting 13 years prior. In 2006 I proposed (and she said yes). In 2007 we got married. In 2008 Julianna was born. In 2009 Chloe was born. At the end of this week we celebrate our 15th wedding anniversary. 3.5 weeks after that Julianna will turn
Tag: discovery
Making the Best
Today Chloe turns 11. Now, both her and Julianna have had to celebrate their birthdays during the Great Quarantine of 2020. I find myself feeling a bit conflicted about how to handle the emotional ups and downs both girls have felt about their birthdays happening during this time. For Julianna’s birthday, we asked a bunch
The Matriarch
Well… My grandmother died today. She was just about to turn 95 years old. This is a weird one. My grandmother, Rhoda Brand, had been battling dementia. It is difficult to know exactly when it really took hold but I’d say it has been roughly 8 to 10 years where I can remember being able
From the Beginning to the Middle
5 years ago, Julianna was in Kindergarten. Her first day did not go well. She cried hysterically and for all intents and purposes had to be pried off of us and “guided” into school. It feels like in each day since, there has been a steady improvement. Last week, nearly 5 entire grades later, she
A Million Dreams
‘Cause every night I lie in bed The brightest colors fill my head A million dreams are keeping me awake I think of what the world could be A vision of the one I see A million dreams is all it’s gonna take A million dreams for the world we’re gonna make This is the
The Force Awakens
Today Chloe turns 8. It has been quite a year for her; for all of us really. Last year, on this day, I wrote about how we had brought home 2 new members of the family: Willy and Charlie (kittens). Just over 3 months later, Willy died. He had a rare kitten disease that was
Electing Presidential
“Daddy, who are you going to vote for?” I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about this one. I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about how to find a balance between getting political and keeping consistent with the point of this blog. My goal in this post is not to make a political statement
Packing for Camp
Three and a half weeks. In three and a half weeks we will drop Julianna off at overnight camp. As an avid reader of this blog, you might remember a post I wrote 2 years ago about her first day at day camp. That day went well. The day camp experience is very different than
The Death Situation
“Daddy, what’s the situation with death?” Not long ago, I wrote about my Great Aunt Charlotte passing away. That event has inspired all sorts of interesting and reasonably difficult conversations over the last few months with Julianna. For this post, and for the record, Chloe is not particularly interested in these matters yet which is
The First Day
Of the rest of her life. My wife and I just dropped Julianna off at the bus stop for her first day of camp. If you know me well, you might imagine what a tremendously huge deal that was for me. I’ve been absent from the blog for a while for all the usual reasons.