Remember that scene from "Sleepless in Seattle," when Meg Ryan’s character, Annie, tells Walter she’s developed feelings for Sam Baldwin, even though they’ve never met? She basically falls in love with the idea of him after hearing him speak for a few minutes on a talk radio show about his late wife. And I’ve always been like… wait, what? Because she just spent Valentine’s weekend with Walter picking out china at Tiffany’s. They’re engaged. This man is committed, present, and

“The next day the large crowd that had come to the festival heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, shouting, ‘Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord, the King of Israel!’” —John 12:12–13 (NRSV) Palm Sunday. The beginning of the end. The moment when people welcomed Jesus as a savior. Waving palms. Shouting “Hosanna,” which literally means, "Save us." And within days? Those same voices were

“God always offers us a second chance in life.” — Paulo Coelho A while back, I was on the phone with my friend Kimi, and she said something that made me laugh. Kimi: Yeah, it’s funny. I either really liked your exes or I couldn’t stand them. Me: That tracks. Kimi: Remember that one we had lunch with at Santana Row? The one from the East Coast? I liked her. Me: Melissa? Kimi: Yeah, that’s her. Me: She was a pathological liar. Kimi: Oh. Well, I remember she was really nice. Me:

“All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost; The old that is strong does not wither, Deep roots are not reached by the frost. From the ashes a fire shall be woken, A light from the shadows shall spring; Renewed shall be blade that was broken, The crownless again shall be king.” — The Fellowship of the Ring, JRR Tolkien I’ve been around the block a few times. In dating. In life. In trying to figure out who I am and what I’m supposed to be doing here.

Back during COVID, I did what a lot of us did... spent a lot of time navel-gazing and cooking. One of the things I wanted to get back to was cooking the food I grew up eating. Growing up, we sat at the table every night and had dinner together. I don’t remember what we talked about, but I remember the feeling. The routine. The intentional time together as a family. It meant something. And it’s one of the things I miss most from my childhood. So I started cooking traditional F

“Check yourself. Sometimes you are the toxic person. Sometimes you are the mean, negative person you’re looking to push away. Sometimes the problem is you. And that doesn’t make you less worthy. Keep on growing. Keep on checking yourself. Keep on motivating yourself. Mistakes are opportunities. Look at them, own them, grow from them and move on. Do better, be better. You’re human. It’s okay.” — Unknown I am a good person. There are, of course, groups or people who would say o

How uncomfortable do you have to become before you finally realize something needs to change? Over five years ago, I was a complete and utter mess. Not in the casual, “life is hard” kind of way. I mean a fog of grief, sadness, hopelessness, and depression that sat heavy in my chest every single day. It wasn’t just one thing. It was five different tragedies colliding at the same time. One major loss is already enough to bring you to your knees, but when they come one after ano

It has been six years since my mom passed away. For my siblings and me, that means both our parents are gone. It’s a strange club to belong to. My dad died in 2009 from lung cancer. When he was diagnosed in 2007, the first thing I did was what most people do... I looked up the prognosis. Doctor Googles estimated two to five years. Instead of coming to the United States for a family reunion and his 70th birthday, my dad canceled the trip, returned the plane tickets, and checke

Human connection is essential to survival. Even the most introverted among us still need community, belonging, and people who know our stories. Friends. Family. Chosen family. People who show up. I have no biological family in Rochester, yet somehow I’ve built a wide network of people here. Within that circle is a much smaller group of close friends who are family in every meaningful sense of the word. That community is one of the reasons I’ve been able to thrive here. For ma

Forgiveness is a strange thing. We like to think forgiveness means pretending something didn’t happen. Like if we say the words out loud, the past somehow disappears. But that’s not really what forgiveness is. Forgiveness doesn’t erase what happened. Forgiveness is about letting go of what we’re still carrying. Not for them. For us. It’s about reclaiming space in our hearts, in our bodies, and in our spirits. It’s about making peace with our own choices, even the ones that hu