46

Katrina Anne Willis Sitting in a Chair

I’m sliding gently into 46 today with coffee and contemplation. My birthday is a time in which I find myself reflective, introspective, even a bit melancholy. Don’t get me wrong… aging doesn’t concern me. I’m learning to love myself and my life a little more every day. It’s the wisdom and perspective that comes with […]

My Husband’s Words

Chris and Katrina at a John Mayer Concert

I’m married to one of the best human beings on this earth. I’m not sure how that happened. Perhaps I won the life lottery a billion years ago when we were all just stardust. He’s handsome and funny and irreverent and hard-working. He’s a culinary genius, and he can repair, replace, or rebuild anything in […]

Caring for Ourselves Looks a Lot Like Caring for Others

The Essence of Life

“Hello… is it me you’re looking for? Cause I wonder where you are, and I wonder what you do…” That’s one of my favorite cheesiest-of-the-cheesy love songs. Lionel was an 80s fixture for me, for sure. Now that song will be stuck in your head all day. “And I want to tell you so much… […]

It Can Wait

Sam

I have a dear friend who is also a high-powered business woman. She is a smart, savvy, successful entrepreneur who closes multi-million dollar deals one minute, leads a national women’s organization the next, and hosts glittering, fun-filled parties in her exquisitely decorated home that evening. She is amazing and inspiring in innumerable ways. She also […]

Feeding the Family

Dinner in a Crockpot

I’m making dinner tonight. This may not seem like a great and noble feat to many of you, but then, you’ve probably never been subjected to my mad culinary skills (or lack thereof). Chris has to mold the minds of his grad students this evening, so it’s my turn to make dinner. Normally when it’s […]

Say Uncle

First Day of School

Last week, I received a sweet email from a former colleague of mine. She and I met when I made my reluctant re-entry into the full-time work force just shy of a decade ago. I was the ketchup-splattered, sleep-deprived mother of four who was trying to reclaim her cobwebby corporate dreams. She was an energetic, […]

Their Father

Willis Tribe

I was born to a father who chose not to stay, his departure the resounding chorus of my young life… Why not? Why? The lesson I learned from him was this: we can’t wish someone into being who we need them to be. At fourteen, I was gifted with a stepfather who made a different […]

The Significant Now

Lake Lights

I’ve been holding out for some divine inspiration lately, a few life-altering insights to share with the world. But the truth is this: I don’t have any. The school year has ended, life is unhurriedly unfurling, and nothing earth-shattering has rocked our existence of late. And you know what? I love it. I am so […]

In With the New

Snow

I didn’t send Christmas cards this year. I haven’t sent them in a few years. We took family pictures when we first arrived in Mississippi, and I still have 200 of them sitting in a fat photo envelope. We were all nearly three years younger then. The kids were shorter, my hair was longer and […]

The Heart of It All

Heartland Film Festival

I just returned from ten glorious days in Indianapolis at the Heartland Film Festival. This little October sabbatical is my guilty pleasure — watching life-altering movies, visiting with old friends (and making new ones), dressing in black tie for a night on the town, eating popcorn until my tongue goes numb. This year was no […]