For everything there is a season.
I’m saying goodbye to my dear friend, Tom, today. Tom was 86 and had cancer and a whole host of other health problems, yet I was shocked to learn he was gone.
He lived a good, full life and I know what he is seeing now is too magnificent for words. If he used ... Read More
My fourth grade son, Ben, told me his teacher pretends to vomit anytime the kids start bickering with each other in his class. Isn’t that hysterical?
Instead of yelling or raining down punishment, the teacher just walks over and pretends to gag. The kids immediately realize what they’re doing and are distracted enough to let it go.
The principal in that same ... Read More
Some days a girl just doesn’t want to get out of bed. That was me Thursday and Friday and Saturday and Sunday. Luckily it’s Monday and the world seems a bit more bearable.
I am a big believer in doing acts of kindness to get myself out of a funk, so I dug deep in my grey wallet and my ... Read More
I feel sorry for people who live in warm climates. They never get to experience the incredible kindness that comes in the middle of a massive snowstorm.
Over Thanksgiving weekend, my family drove from Aberdeen, S.D., to Moorhead, MN., for my husband’s basketball game. A friend let us stay at her house while she was gone for the weekend. Our little ... Read More
I never thought it would happen. Christmas pictures with Santa back where it all began!
Fifteen years ago, we were living in Fargo, ND with just one baby. Our daughter Jordan was 10 months old. It was her first time meeting Santa and she found him at West Acres Mall.
The following year, she brought along her newborn baby brother, ... Read More
I grew up with a second family. The Balkanskys took me in when I was in eighth grade and they still haven’t let me go.
I traveled with them on vacations and rolled my eyes like a belligerent teenager when they gave me unsolicited advice. Without fail, I always knew they loved me.
I was especially touched by this letter sent in ... Read More
I’ve changed my mind. I don’t want to be Mister Rogers when I grow up.
I still have his mug on my desk and his picture on my wall, along with King Friday and Daniel Tiger.
I still share the core values he lived.
I still long to grow stronger in the things he was so naturally good at like humility, gentleness and ... Read More
TRAM (The Ride Across Minnesota) is a five-day bicycle ride that raises money for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. While I love the idea of being active for a great cause, biking isn’t my thing.
But it is Harvey Laabs’ thing. He’s from West Fargo, and has been crossing the North Dakota/Minnesota border for TRAM since 1991. Here’s his story.
“It was ... Read More
I was lying next to my teenage daughter last night talking about life. We chatted about moving and finding new friend groups and how some high schoolers are really kind— and how others are not.
“Someday their mirrors will become windows, Mom.” she finally said. Her comment floored me. She wrapped up everything I try to teach about kindness in ... Read More
Have I ever mentioned I have the happiest email inbox of anyone in the world?
Seriously. Who else gets messages each day telling them about all the good things going on in our communities?
I love writing this column so much I would do it for free (but don’t tell my boss that)! I recently got an email from Becky Salberg, of ... Read More
