On a walk behind my house, my daughter Joy offered some wisdom. The birds sang, and the sun slowly set in oranges and yellows behind Pikes Peak. We stepped through the backyard gate ready to connect, and as soon as our feet began to crunch along the gravel trail,...
As the sun rose in the east, students waited to cross the street, and Giorgia stood among them. She had great plans. Her friend Emma was waiting to talk over coffee; she had tennis practice after school; and with Spring Break only days away, she was about to go home...
Most responsible adults don’t suggest playing on the ice. And for good reason. For one thing, people die from it! Someone could fall through and become a human version of an “Otter Pop.” In fact, playing in general can be dangerous. People get in accidents...
February was cold, and not just because of the freezing temperatures. A student at our school died last month in a car accident, so her friends never got to say goodbye. School counselors visited classrooms to help, and there were tears, but nothing could keep the...
I struggle with anxiety. Sometimes it feels like I’m trapped like my pet lizard, Spike, baking under a heat lamp in a glass cage. But in those moments, my cage doesn’t have a screen top; it’s solid glass, and I can’t breathe. Anything can set it off. A bad...
My friend Betty is a little weird. Why? Because she’s a world-class listener. And these days, not many people are good at listening—not with all the screens vying for our attention and the million must-do details running through our heads. Stopping in the midst of...
