Flying makes me nervous, changing time zones is exhausting, the logistics of travel are frustrating, and packing and unpacking - and then packing and unpacking, and then packing and unpacking again - my carry-on with a week’s worth of clothes…is annoying.

Is it all worth it?

While we wait for the picture-worthy moment when our son or daughter crosses the stage to accept a diploma, let me flip things around and share with you three lessons I have learned from our soon-to-be graduate. Our children are great teachers.

I have a secret - I want a tattoo.

While our kids consider the dogs the varsity team and the cats junior varsity, the JV team adds a different kind of value to our home, and I am amazed at how much they teach me by how they live life on their own terms.

I grab my cell phone from its charger and head towards the bathroom, a room that I frequented over the past eight hours. My lower back reminds me that it is tight as I gaze into the mirror – “Who is this person, and what did you do with that bright-eyed, bushy-tailed blonde young thing I used to know?”

Depends on the context. On December 5th, the then-president of Harvard, Claudine Gay, said these four words in a congressional hearing in response to a question about genocide. And although Gay later apologized for her answer, declaring, “Words matter,” the phrase has continued to rattle around in my brain.