Midwest Mimi

  • I Tell the Story. I Make the Meaning.

    Telling my story did not erase what happened to me. It changed my relationship to it. From telling one safe person to eventually writing publicly, I learned that George could be part of my story without being its author.

  • Closure Is Not Always a Conversation

    Closure is not always a conversation, an apology, or a neat ending. Sometimes it is finally saying what you needed to say, accepting that someone you loved also failed you, and learning how to move forward without pretending the hurt did not matter.

  • I Still Want More

    I am happy with my life, but that does not mean I have stopped wanting more. I still want better health, more money, a home of our own, more freedom, and a bigger writing career. Contentment is not the absence of ambition. Sometimes it is simply learning to enjoy the breeze while you keep building…

  • Being Easy to Entertain Might Be My Greatest Life Skill

    Curiosity has helped keep my world big even when chronic illness has made my life physically smaller. Books, art, research, writing, family, and even something as simple as watching my son blow the seeds from a dandelion remind me there is always more to notice, learn, and wonder about.

  • A Small Life Is Not the Same Thing as a Meaningless One

    A life can become smaller in radius without becoming smaller in meaning. Disability, limited stamina, and money have changed the life I once imagined, but they have not taken away the people, stories, faith, beauty, and ordinary moments that make it full.

  • The Chair Theory

    What if fitting in has less to do with changing yourself and more to do with finding where you belong? The Chair Theory offers a simple way to think about friendship, self-acceptance, and learning when it is okay to find another table.

  • He Sounded Like Home, Even When Home Was Chaos

    When people say they love Jelly Roll, I know what they mean. But when I say it, I mean something different. I mean his music found me when I was still in the middle of my hustle years, back when survival felt like adrenaline and invincibility. This is not just about fandom. It is about…

  • Taking Out the Trash

    We threw out what we didn’t need when we moved. Not just things. People too. It wasn’t dramatic or loud. Just a quiet decision to stop carrying what was making our life heavier, and start building something more peaceful for our family.

  • How Almost Dying Taught Me Life’s Too Short to Be Unhappy

    After surviving respiratory failure, I woke up to more than a second chance at life—I woke up to clarity. I stopped waiting for perfect moments, learned to protect my peace, and began truly living again. This is the story of how almost dying taught me what it means to be alive.

  • 🌿 The Lives That Built Me – Grace in the Grit

    I rebuilt from rock bottom, not because life got easier, but because I learned to make peace with the life I can live. That’s grace in the grit: surviving, rebuilding, and loving every version of me that made it here.

  • 🌿 Life Is About Experiencing Moments

    🌿 Life Is About Experiencing Moments

    There was a time I thought life was measured in milestones like graduations, promotions, birthdays, and the next big thing on the calendar. Then one day I woke up sick and never got well. Chronic illness has a way of stripping life down to its bones. It slows everything until you can’t help but notice…

  • When I Became Her Mother

    In that first moment of motherhood, something in me shifted. Every scar I carried started to look like a map I didn’t want her to follow. As she grew, I saw pieces of myself in her, and glimpses of who she might become, all at once. Motherhood slowly, sometimes painfully, made me relearn softness. She…