Warmth

Warmth

Gather round, all, and I shall tell you a tale called “Warmth.” It began innocently enough with an alligator cleverly disguised as one of our NICU babies. As this alligator began to gator roll, he dislodged his feeding tube. This change was unbeknownst to me, as I was more concerned about keeping his body safe,…

Meet Kenny

Meet Kenny

I have someone to introduce you to. He’s been in my life a while now and some people have known about him, but I’m ready to introduce him to the world. Meet Kenny. Kenny is the name I’ve given to my personified surgically-repaired, bionically-elevated, titanium-indwelling, left foot. He’s been through a lot over the past…

Home Safety?

Home Safety?

Laughter is letting go if even just for a moment and believing in better things. Laughter is a bubbly, effervescent form of hope. Laughter can be defiant of one’s current circumstances and a confidence that they can change. Laughter can demonstrate that no matter how dark the night is, that the dawn is coming, and joy comes in the morning (Psalm 30:5). I laugh not because all is well right now, but because all will be well.

Gumption & Graduations

Gumption & Graduations

Sometimes walking across a stage takes great gumption. Not because the act of ambulation is challenging (though wearing layers and layers of velvet is a bit inhibiting). The challenge comes in the difficulty of expecting one jaunt across a stage to summarize years of work. We whittle down an entire degree to ten seconds of…

Semester One Recap

I have one semester of my doctorate under my belt. Holy frijoles. What a semester! I now know anything anyone could care to know about Florida House Bill 943 and can articulate a growth theory which likens our lives to a river blocked with rocks and aided by driftwood. I am a more knowledgable clinician now. But…

Doctoral Woes, Week One

I’m one week into my doctoral career. Whew. What a week. It seems like at least a month has passed since I started classes. One week down. One hundred fifty to go. I’ve read chapters of books. Learned more about public policy than I ever thought I’d know. I’ve already been through all the emotions. Syllabus shock? Check.…

Iceberg

I feel like an iceberg. Not because I’m cold, remote, or danger-prone, but because people only see about 10% of me. Icebergs barely pop their tops above the water-line. They look small, cute, and manageable. But people miss the 90% lying just below the waterline. For me, this is especially true at work. I am…

Legacy

“Kelly, what will your legacy be?” That question as posed to me recently at work. We had a department-wide meeting during which we made a “legacy quilt”. We were each charged to write a sentence on a square of decorative paper which would be knit together to form a paper quilt of quotes and desires.…