About

My memories of this life began on October 2nd, 1981, when I entered this world in Owatonna, Minnesota. It was an unusually cold day, with freezing temperatures and gale-force winds sweeping across the landscape. I arrived in the early morning, just before sunrise. By chance, I was the only baby born in all of Steele County that day—a rare fact the county clerk was pleased to share.

My mind has pieced together memories of what I believe to be from that day and the early years of my life—the years they say you’re not supposed to remember. Initially a happy and joyful child, I’d come to find judgment and a sense of disconnection. As a teenager and young adult, that led to feeling lost, traveling with no place to go, angry, and confused at all the adults around me.

Coming into my 40s, it had taken a whole lot of heartache and sacrifice to completely lose myself before I rose from the ashes and found things I didn’t even know I lost. It took a decade-long battle with my physical health, navigating perimenopause, severe anemia, and a declining relationship with my body to finally wave the white flag and choose a path that felt right to me.

I began to feel a space open inside me—a space where doubt, fear, and shame don’t exist. As I release things that don’t serve me, I begin to feel lighter. My shoulders soften and my chest fills with air as I take a much-needed deep breath.

More capable.

More worthy.

The chapters of my debut book share raw pieces of me with the intention that through my story, you can connect with yours. Allow me to share my aspects of being that cultivate awareness and resilience, making room for joy in my everyday life. Although it may resonate with just about anyone looking to be more mindful, this first volume is a nod to all mothers who have lived full, complicated lives and are ready to strengthen the connection with their bodies, their truth, and their own becoming.