the moon and the stars

August 22, 2021

Dear Ethan,

I didn’t write last week. Maybe I didn’t write the week before. I’ve been cozy and content and couldn’t bother with my laptop. 

What’s been keeping me content? Big stacks of middle-grade readers, which always end on a happy note. This has been a year of re-reading, and the old favorites never disappoint. My mother-in-law recently gave me her newish Kindle, and my anime eyes said, “Oh, so now I can read when I’m supposed to be sleeping?” 

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a photo diary

July 24, 2021

Dear Ethan, 

Today was a weird week. I was curious about what it would be like to document the world if I chose to see/seek joy the same ways you do, and the dreaminess of it all was stunning. I chose to be a say yes parent, and realized how much that changed the tenor of the week both for you and for me. 

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on houston skies

When I left Houston for good, I thought I’d take a little video of the loop Ethan and I would walk on when he was very young. The sky was usually beautiful above us, and this one was mediocre, but I even miss that one. It’s not the sky really. It’s the wide openness of it all, and how it reflects love into everything you see. 

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trip to boston

July 4th, 2021 

Dear Ethan, 


We had quite a whirlwind weekend! On Wednesday, we had surprise family visitors who convinced me to take you to Boston on Thursday. When we got into town, it was cloudy and muggy, and we wandered through the Market to find something to eat (we all ate lobster rolls and clam chowder). We followed up with Boston cream donuts which were like two full-size donuts smushed together and loaded with cream (we all agree the cream layer could have been at least double). You had an M&M cookie which you proclaimed was “your favorite.” After the donuts, we stood outside and watched a street performer juggle knives from a seven-foot unicycle, and a girl wearing VR goggles play covers of popular songs on her violin. 

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seven things

June 26, 2021​

Dear Ethan,


We are in the thick of our summer move! I’ve never had trouble leaving something behind before but now feels different. We are leaving the space where you lived over half your life, and a part of me is sad from the loss. Yet, we are getting ready for our next big adventure, and I am also so grateful for change and lots of loveliness ahead. 

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the things I love about you

Hi everyone, 

I missed my Sunday posting. Ethan and I were having a baby-mommy date, which involved a walk, an electric bike ride, rock collecting, and chasing butterflies in Village Hill. This was followed by a nap in the car outside of the mall, a pizza lunch, and finally, a trip to the arcade. Guess who got something out of the claw machine and got a high score on the ball toss? It wasn’t me…

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secret library

Hi everybody,

We are all sunburnt and drowsy from a long, perfect weekend in Cape May. Among activities enjoyed: peanut butter malted milkshakes from Milky Way, a boat ride where dolphins swam by angelically and smiled at us, lobster rolls, a birthday party with three desserts, balloons, a strawberry festival, and just the loveliness of being around people you love. Then I came home, and my catsitter folded our laundry and I had a letter from Paul the bookseller and a copy of an anthology where I had a story published a million years ago and finally got to have the tender moment of seeing my story out in the world. Hooray! 

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