ckblakey9

Have you ever felt embarrassed because you were not where you thought you were supposed to be? Maybe you thought you should have graduated from college by now. You should own a house. You should be married. You should have a better job. You should be thinner. More successful. More organized. More emotionally evolved. Whatever the measurement is, you look around and decide everyone else is ahead of you. But ahead according to whom? If you had been raised somewhere that college was not...

I have apologized to my daughter more than once for things I regret from when she was growing up. I remember them. Sometimes she doesn't. She has said some version of, "Mom, I really don't remember that." And for a long time I thought that should make me feel better. Apparently my brain did not get that memo. Because I would still want to explain it. I would still want to tell her what I remembered. I would still want her to know that I knew I had handled something badly. And recently I...

Not long ago, I heard the voice of someone I’ve known for years in a video. My body reacted. And before I had analyzed a damn thing, my mind handed me a complete explanation: I can’t stand this woman. There was no thoughtful review of the evidence. No Hmmm, Kelly, let’s explore the possible contributors to this emotional response. Just: I can’t stand this woman. Then came the sorting. Maybe this had something to do with my new role as a grandma. Maybe I was feeling territorial. Maybe old...