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One of the perks of being completely smitten with words and language is that I somehow ended up married to a man who treats English like a polite suggestion rather than a rulebook. Willie doesn’t just use language—he auditions it, tweaks it, gives it a mullet and sunglasses, and sends it back into the world with a new name and a confident swagger. Some of his inventions are slight variations on existing words. Take, for

It takes a lot to get me off the ridge. Grandkids? You bet. Summer concerts? Yes ma’am. But a visit to the post office? That’s practically a diplomatic mission. I mean, we all know I’m a computer kind of gal. But if snail mail is requested, I will, every now and then, put on real pants and waltz into town, mail in hand, full of hope and questionable expectations. Let me say upfront: our local

Maybe it’s just the age and stage we’re in, but ever since we lost Willie’s mom, we’ve been making a real effort to get the siblings together more often. Currently in the works: a family trip to Branson. Yes—that Branson. Now, the rocker in me is mildly horrified. I came of age in the time of gloriously misbehaving boy bands and guitar solos that lasted entire albums. But I also have a deeply buried (okay,

So there I was, just casually minding my own business—doing what any wild, spontaneous grown-up does for fun: looking up words in the dictionary. You can keep your TikToks and dance challenges—I like to pretend I’m still on the noble path of self-education. (Fake it ’til you make it, right?) Anyway, I’ve had this habit since I was a kid—I look up at least ten words a day. Sometimes they’re new, sometimes it’s just me

In our younger, carefree years, we never imagined we’d one day be planning vacations around graveyards. Yet here we are, dragging suitcases past mossy headstones like it’s the most natural thing in the world. Paris? Venice? Nah—we’re off to the scenic cemetery beside a clapboard church in rural Missouri. Dream big. This genealogy rabbit hole started innocently enough. A few names, a birth date or two. But now? It’s a full-blown time-traveling detective saga. I