Life With Others

  There is a pithy saying that travels around local high schools and colleges in my area that goes something like this, “Let you do you.” In other words, be who you want to be, and don’t let anyone notify you of who to be. The weird thing about th …

Most of my childhood and teenage years, I grew up without a father. My dad left our family a handful of times, and even when he was home, he usually had a job as a truck driver, which meant he was on the road most of the time. Over the years, I felt my …

My mother is a self-declared “helicopter parent,” or at least she used to be throughout my growing up years. When my siblings and I graduated and moved out, she struggled with her empty nest. I moved furthest away — a 30-hour drive — and in the months …

I didn’t know it until much later, but my high school experience was kind of odd in terms of community. While many folks don’t have their first experience of true, deep community until college, I had not one, but two real community experiences in high …