What I Kept – March & April 2026

I thought I would have something to say by now. It’s been a month, almost two, and I keep waiting for the words to come together in a way that makes sense.

I stepped away because life felt heavier than usual, and somewhere in that, writing stopped feeling natural. But I miss being here with you, the conversations in the comments.

I don’t have a clear takeaway or a tidy reflection. Just small things I’ve noticed along the way, and the pull to come back and share them here.

I don’t know what this space will look like going forward. I used to think I needed to show up every week, but I’m not holding myself to that right now. I’m here, and for now, that feels like enough.

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In May 2022, my childhood best friend died of cancer. We weren’t speaking at the time, and I spent the year that followed grieving her in a deep and complicated way. This series became part of how I moved through that grief.

I thought it would be temporary, something to help me process what I was carrying. But over time, I fell in love with putting this post together.

These are the things I’ve kept over the last two months.

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In early April, we were at mom’s for dinner when I noticed the Christmas tree lights were on in the den. I assumed my mom had turned them on earlier while she was cleaning or getting things ready. Later, Ella came in from the bathroom and said, “Oh Mamie, I love that you have the Christmas tree lights on.”

My mom hadn’t turned them on.

That room holds a lot for us. It’s where my dad died on hospice two years ago this month.

So seeing it lit up like that, in this month especially, was something.

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Mike took this photo one morning on his way to cardiac rehab. He’s in week four of the program, going three days a week for two hours each time to help rebuild his strength. He’s doing really well—physically, he’s fully healed from open-heart surgery. The human body is pretty remarkable.

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Recently, I was nominated for something called a Sunshine Blogging Award by a fellow blogging friend. Bloggers will know these awards. They tend to make their way around, asking you to answer a few questions and pass them along. The award isn’t really an award at all, just in name only. I didn’t do anything to receive it beyond being a friend.

But when I saw my name, I didn’t really think about any of that at first. I just thought about the person who took a moment to include me.

Small gestures are worth more than we tend to give them credit for. They remind me that we’re still paying attention to each other, even in passing ways. I don’t know if I’ll follow every step or pass it along exactly as it’s meant to go. But I do know I’m grateful to have been included. So thank you, friend, for including me.

Please check out my friend’s blog—I think you’d really like it. He writes about music, one of my favorite things, and also weaves in little stories from his life.

Last little notes- I’m no longer writing in lower case. It actually took more work to do that, if you can believe it.

Psst- it’s birthday week…🌈