Midwest Mimi

  • Grief That Grows

    Healing did not mean letting my mother go. It meant learning how to keep loving her in a way that did not cost me my own life—and allowing grief to change shape into something quieter, steadier, and still full of love.

  • Grief That Grows

    After my mother died, my family did not grieve in the same way. My dad withdrew, my brother went quiet, and I had to learn that different expressions of grief do not mean abandonment—but they do change how we love each other.

  • The Rules Trauma Wrote

    Sexual assault does not only leave memories. It installs rules — rules about safety, blame, and ownership of your own body. Those rules are written under duress by a nervous system trying to survive, and they can outlive the danger that created them. In this essay, I explore how trauma embeds itself quietly in the…

  • TRUTHS I LEARNED THE HARD WAY — PART TWO

    Healing is not speed. Healing is honesty. This is the quiet, slow, lonely kind of recovery that chronic illness and midlife force you to learn. A reflection on rest, boundaries, and becoming someone you no longer abandon.

  • Lessons from Wonderland: What Alice Still Teaches Me About Life, Parenting, and Growing Up

    Lessons from Wonderland: What Alice Still Teaches Me About Life, Parenting, and Growing Up

    During a fall evening photo shoot turned Wonderland adventure, I realized how much Alice still has to teach us. Through curiosity, slowing down, difference, imagination, and growth, I found reflections of motherhood, healing, and becoming — lessons tucked inside the golden light of an ordinary day.

  • Alzheimer’s Caregiver Grief: How Families Experience Love and Loss Before Goodbye

    I lost my mother to Alzheimer’s disease in the summer of 2020 after an eight-year journey into loss. Her death brought acute sadness but also relief, not just for our family, but for my mom, who hadn’t been fully herself in quite some time. Because of our family’s faith, we had the comfort of knowing…

  • Why Vacation Is So Special: Healing, Reconnecting, and Starting Fresh

    Vacations aren’t just an escape from everyday life. They are a powerful pause, a chance to reset our hearts and minds, and a moment to build new, joyful memories with loved ones. The Science of Vacation Magic Boosts longevity and heart health: A longitudinal study of over 12,000 high-risk men found that taking an annual…