I fell in the trap of letting the blog peter out. Not because I didn't have anything to say but  because I have so MUCH to say and I wasn't sure how much was too much. A few people have been asking about this which helped confirm - I need to be sharing something!

Over the last couple years, my world has changed. Professionally, I joined an incredible firm with wonderful people who have made me feel valued as a human being.  I have been able to grow while taking care of myself and my two favorite people in the whole world.  Along the way, I gained good perspective and am finally ready to share some.   This blog will not be all about exercise and food
but since these things are important to me, it will make frequent appearances!   There will be more ramblings about kids and the challenges of parenting a young adult.  There will be a lot of mention
of volunteer time I'm spending with the Seattle chapter of American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

I mentioned in a posting a while ago about my friend who chose to leave....  Her unexpected departure was a suicide and this was the event that changed my world.  My long silences were in part because I choked on these words and didn't know how to write about this thing that occupies so many of my thoughts and challenged all my beliefs.  She was a beautiful, smart, generous, accomplished woman. All the things I hope I am and will be. She was the first woman to teach me the industry I love. She said she saw great things in me and I believed her. In many ways she helped me leave the "girl" behind and become the woman I was meant to be.  I have always wanted her to be proud of and more so now.
She invested in me and I want to honor the meaningful way she lived and not the tragic way she died.  She dedicated a lot of time to community services that were important to her. If by talking about her, AFSP and depression will do anything at all to remove some stigma from these words - then I will feel something good is being squeezed out of something so incredibly devastating.  The world isn't the same without her and I miss her daily.

I'm not trying to fix the world here but let's talk about taking good care of ourselves, being grateful for things that are good and encouraging one another. This life thing is so much better when we do it together.