Firstborn

Sam and Katrina in Montreal

It is not a debilitating disease. It is not a death. It is not a permanent loss or a mistake that can never be undone. But sending your firstborn off to college is not nothing. People have often asked us these questions… Was having four kids harder than having three? Was going from man-to-man to […]

A Different Narrative

Sunrise

I am overcome. Your notes, your texts, your calls, your stories. There are so many. So very many. For five days and nights now, I have been enveloped in love and light. I have also been privy to so many of your stories of “Me, too.” My heart is lifted, my heart is heavy. But […]

Muscle Memory

Katrina and Colleene

We all have untold stories, pieces of us that for whatever reason remain buried, unseen. But that doesn’t always mean they should stay there, hidden. I am an advocate of sharing stories as a way to heal — both self and others. And yet, there are some I’ve been reluctant to voice, to name, to […]

When We Were Young

Sam in a Ball State Shirt

We lived at Chris’s family farm, the three of us. Sam was the 6th generation Willis to inhabit the 100-year-old farmhouse. We tore out old ceilings, built bigger closets, painted every surface that could be prepped and sanded. We sang and danced a lot then, that cerulean-eyed, 10-pound baby in my arms or strapped to […]