We brought into our home a young cat whose mission, it seems, is to seek and destroy. His name is Hoku (it means "star"), but we should have named him Kolohe (rascal). We love him, but his curious, energetic presence means minimal decorations this year, certainly nothing he can climb, claw, pull down, knock over, or pulverize.

Or eat. Which means no poinsettias. Sad. 

So, yeah, we are back to baby-proofing our house for a little devil disguised as a 9-month-old kitten.

But then Ward, my husband, said, "Let's get a tree anyway! We don't have to decorate it."

Written by Jade Moon

Mom wants to go out and you can’t let her. But she wants to shop. She doesn’t understand why you’re blocking her. You know she’ll get lost. Heck, the place might not even exist anymore.

Conflict ensues—arguments, anger, yelling, crying, impatience, confusion, regret.

Then it’s over—until the next time. Lather, rinse, repeat.

Written by Jade Moon

Teepa Snow says dementia isn’t a diagnosis, it’s more of a syndrome—a collection of symptoms.

In one of her excellent videos, Snow presents four facts: If you have dementia, at least two parts of your brain are dying. Second, you can’t bring back what’s lost, stop it or cure it.

“When someone is living with a brain change like dementia, it means the brain is gone,” she says. 

Written by Jade Moon

“I cry when I talk about it. We have children out there and I want to reach them. In this day and age there is not supposed to be a child out there that doesn’t have footwear.”

Written by Jade Moon

We don’t have that much in common, or at least I’ve always believed so. We don’t agree on religion. We are far apart on politics. We both are passionate about completely different things and always-- and carefully-- avoid all hot button issues when we’re together.

But on this day our conversation flitted from family to kids, to pets, to cooking. Mundane, boring, everyday stuff. Easy stuff.

And that’s when it sort of hit me—that’s enough. It’s more than enough.

Written by Jade Moon