Jennifer Briggs

Amy is officially a rising sophomore! Freedom! She worked extra hard in the last couple weeks, as with every trimester finale with projects, papers, and presentations galore. She loves her school, but she is excited to have time to catch up on sleep and read books for fun. Sarah completed her first week of camp… Read more »

It’s 5:45 A.M. You scream about wet socks. No, crayons don’t go in the dryer. It’s 9:30 P.M. You try to sleep. Every fifteen minutes, you tell us that your favorite color is yellow. It’s 7:30 A.M I hurry you along. You pause to photograph every bus. It’s 12:30 P.M. I sit with you as… Read more »

There is a certain je ne sais quoi about Sarah since she finished high school. She is drawing ever more thorough drawings of Granddad and of Tom’s taxi. She started weeding the yard, admittedly pulling up some things that maybe could have stayed rooted, but still! She did a load of laundry when her favorite… Read more »

Sarah graduated from high school! What a huge accomplishment, full of trying again after challenging moments, full of bus rides, school jobs, and after-school plays. She and I took the bus to her graduation practice, and it was fun to see her hanging out with her friends while waiting for everyone else to arrive. For… Read more »

Mother’s Day was a marvelous experience that required great restraint on my part not to fall into old habits of cleaning the kitchen. After we all got our own breakfasts, I was not to cook or clean. Sarah made sloppy joes (making the sauce from scratch) for lunch with some help from Carl. Amy made… Read more »

Thank you all for the love and support about my stepfather’s death. My mom wrote a beautiful obituary that really captures his spirit and impact. It has been interesting to move through grief a second time in so short a span of months. The sadness about Ralph passing didn’t hit me much until I got… Read more »

Yesterday I drove to Philadelphia to be with my mom as it seemed like my stepfather, Ralph, was close to death. He passed this morning with his daughters, my mom, and me with him. I’m glad I followed what felt right to my body to come out yesterday. Ralph was a part of my life… Read more »

Sarah had an exciting Monday visiting Duquesne University where she will attend a post-secondary program next year. Then she thoroughly enjoyed having themed dress-down days Tuesday through Thursday. Friday she did not have school because they give everyone the day to get ready for the prom. Our preparation included a long nap and an errand… Read more »

After months of rehearsals and running lines at home, Sarah’s acting class performed an abbreviated rendition of Mary Poppins. Sarah was amazing!! The class is for actors who love to sing, dance, and act and need a little assistance to do so. Last year Sarah had two short lines in her play and was absorbed by… Read more »

The itinerary for my trip with Amy had only the barest details of our flights, where we were staying, and “Do fun things. Eat chocolate.” I should have added “walk all over creation” because we certainly got our steps in, but we made good on our primary intention. The week felt like it went by… Read more »