I’ve always prided myself on being a safe driver. The only time I’d gotten into a car accident was when I had my learner’s permit. I backed Nana’s Grand Marquee into something in her garage and busted out one of the taillights. With some elbow grease and a few hours on a Saturday afternoon, it was as good as new. No one was more surprised than I when my 2002 Honda Civic, Florence, was sideswiped by an 18-wheeler on US-29 South in Danville, barely an hour into a five-hour road

Since early in our marriage, my husband and I considered getting a dog, but we couldn’t agree on what kind we wanted. My husband has a soft spot for Golden Retrievers, but I prefer German Shepherds. In the spring of 2021, I learned that a friend of my sister-in-law was expecting a litter of Golden Shepherd puppies—the mother dog was a Golden Retriever, and the father was a German Shepherd. A mix between the two seemed like the ideal compromise.  Unfortunately, our living situ

Fourteen Protestants—twelve of us lifelong Lutherans—filed into the back rows of the Cathedral of St. Helena for Sunday morning mass. ...

Monday, September 1, 2025 My heart is bursting with gratitude.  I woke this morning without an alarm—my body rising on its own around...

At least eleven people can squeeze into a mother-baby room at the local hospital.  Four of them are small—they fit on laps or in the...

Contrary to common experience, I haven’t wondered how to make friends as an adult woman. Friendships seem to fall into my lap. Making...

I moved to Central Virginia in August of 2015 for my freshman year of college. We took two cars—my 2002 Honda Civic named Florence and my...

People haunt us long after they leave us. Mom and I just returned from Helena, Montana. We took a quick trip to celebrate my cousin’s...

I grew up in a three-dog household. My dad trained Nelly, our first dog—a purebread yellow Labrador retriever. The other two, Nikki and...

Last time I returned an Amazon package at Staples, the drop-off location was near the print center. However, when I walked into the...

Nelly I remember bringing home our first family dog, Nelly. She was an eight-week-old yellow lab puppy. My brother and I were so excited...

I’ve always been tall. When I was a child, I was at least a head taller than every other kid in my class. Tucked away in my Wunderkammer...

I believed in Santa Claus for an inappropriately long time. In the parking lot of a PetSmart, I asked my mom a question that would change...

I’m in a festive mood. The leaves are changing, the weather is crisp, and I have been drinking pumpkin spice protein coffee nearly every...

My best friend and I have been long distance for more than a decade.  When my family moved from the only town I’d ever known to a new...

Some of my earliest memories involve writing.  I grew up spending summers at the pool. My brother and I were both on our neighborhood...

My husband and I just returned from a week-long vacation to New England—Massachusetts and Connecticut, to be exact. He grew up in...

My parents are coming to visit this weekend. We try to see each other at least once a month and switch between them coming to visit me...

My childhood home was a big, yellow farmhouse with a picket fence. I slept in a blush-pink room with a dormer that overlooked the front...

The basketball pounds like a drum outside my office window. It’s 3:30 p.m., and the neighbor kids are home from school, playing a game of...