Hello! Buongiorno Bellezza! Guten Tag! Buenos Noches!

I can’t think of a better way to introduce myself than to tell you what I’m wearing, the last ten songs I listened to on Spotify, what I had for dinner tonight, and what I did right before I ate that delectable dinner.

• Bare feet, fitted purple joggers, a soft grey long-sleeve purple shirt that says, “Nurses are the heartbeat,” no bra, and a smile. (My goal is to be that heartbeat someday.)
• Wish You Were Here — Pink Floyd, Pride and Joy — Stevie Ray Vaughn, Purple Haze — Jimi Hendrix, Feel Like Makin’ Love — Bad Company, Look…

“To put things in order means to put your past in order too.” — Marie Kondo

Did I ever think my life would turn out like this? No. Never. Have I accepted that shit happens? Yep. Am I still that sexy woman in those nude pictures from twenty years ago? Yes, very much so.

Up until tonight, I couldn’t bear to flip through my little green photo album of naked Polaroids of my ex and me together in our prime.

Man, those were some good times.

I appreciate the memories those risqué photos captured for what they were, except that…

On the way into class this morning, I recalled the last time I had an alcoholic beverage. It was three months back, on a Wednesday, and the sushi-to-beer ratio was 4:1.

It was all delicious and relaxing. But if I’m frank, and I am, drinking is not nearly as fun as it used to be when I was twenty-two. Depression sets in deeper with a drink in my belly these days, and I do not need any help with that. Speaking of helping — I can’t always do it. It’s not my job to fix anyone other than myself, and…

Am I going to write an intro?

Not today, Medium, not today.

[1] As a writer, how do you come up with new ideas? How do you capture them so that they are ready when you sit down to write?

Do you ever wish there was a water-proof phone with a steam-free screen that you could take notes on in the shower when all your best writing ideas hit you?

Yeah, me too.

To answer your question — they just hit me (like a freight train). If I don’t get my ideas out and write them down somewhere, I will burst. I am grateful for my phone (a.k.a — my mini portable computer) because I rely on it 99.8% of the time to capture my thoughts about life…

Authors note: I wrote (almost) every day while going through a divorce last year. It was the most excruciating experience I’ve ever been through, and I kept a daily log of that pain. I also lived through it to share my story with you. I’m holding onto the (high) hope that someone out there is starting their ‘Day 1’ today and finds solace and support in me writing through the heartache first. Day 1 link

Day 99

Today is the first time since separating from my husband (and the Covid-19 hit hard) that I’ve sat at a coffee shop and tried to…

Authors note: I wrote (almost) every day while going through a divorce last year. It was the most excruciating experience I’ve ever been through, and I kept a daily log of that pain. I also lived through it to share my story with you. I’m holding onto the (high) hope that someone out there is starting their “Day 1” today and finds solace and support in me writing through the heartache first.

Day 95

There are two holes in my heart that I will never be able to fill, patch up, or make whole, ever again.

These holes are the exact size and shape of my eleven-year-old boy and my seven-year-old girl.

I must be getting my period…

Authors note: I wrote (almost) every day while going through a divorce last year. It was the most excruciating experience I’ve ever been through, and I kept a daily log of that pain. I also lived through it to share my story with you. I’m holding onto the (high) hope that someone out there is starting their “Day 1” today and finds solace and support in me writing through the heartache first.

Day 87

Waking up in my parent's house as a single mom is a new norm now. Our routine comes naturally — it’s like I never left.

I whip up…

Last weekend, I sat alone in my piercingly quiet room and listened to my neighbors celebrate a birthday in their backyard. I declined the invitation to join them, but that’s beside the point. I warmly remember the summer days where my ex-husband and I would have a house full of our friends and their kids. Everyone zipping around, eating, laughing, and enjoying each other’s company. I knew right then that I wanted to write a piece about aloneness vs. loneliness. …