A couple of weeks ago, we brought home Frankie, one of my friend Tracy’s beloved cats. Tracy loved her two cats Frankie and Henry, and her husband Doug, more of a dog guy, knew that loving Tracy meant opening his home and heart to her cats as well. During Tracy’s final weeks, the normalcy and... Continue Reading →
Lessons From Tracy
Earlier this month, I lost my beautiful friend Tracy to melanoma. Tracy and I met in the late 1990s through a mutual friend, and over the years, we shared the ups and downs of professional life, family dynamics, and travel adventures. Tracy was a person whose life radiated outward, continually widening her circle and bringing... Continue Reading →
Rediscovering Friends
Next month I have two major milestones: my 30th reunion with my MBA classmates from University of Chicago, and my 35th from Tufts University. Separated by two weeks and 900 miles, I’ll first join my Chicago Booth classmates at a dinner not far from home in downtown Chicago and then later fly to Boston to... Continue Reading →
Quiet Season
As Sara wrote last week, winter has a way of narrowing our worlds, with cold days and dark nights making cozying up on the sofa with a blanket preferable to venturing out. I also find this season invites reflection. While I’ve settled into a post-holiday routine, I’m still thinking about the year ahead and how... Continue Reading →
Reflecting With Gratitude
As we mark the final weekend of 2025, most of us are looking forward to 2026 and setting new goals while trying to put the challenges of 2025 behind us. But before we turn the page on the year, we’d like to reflect and share and some things that inspired us this year. While 2025... Continue Reading →
Gifting on a Budget
With so much commercialization around the holidays, it can be hard to remember what makes this time of year truly meaningful – savoring connections and feelings of gratitude for the special people in our lives. At Language of Friendship, we’ve found that gift giving can be both enjoyable and memorable, especially with personal touch. Sara... Continue Reading →
Putting Gratitude into Action
Last weekend Sara wrote about how practicing gratitude positively impacts our well-being. The recent Thanksgiving holiday served as an opportunity to notice the good, and it helps ground us in appreciation. But gratitude doesn’t have to stop at reflection; it can also be a good motivation for action. Reflecting on the many things we are... Continue Reading →
Poems of Gratitude
With Thanksgiving coming up this week, I am thinking about gratitude and how important it is to our mental and physical well-being. Julia's post about World Gratitude Day in September referenced an article published by Harvard Medical School discussing how practicing gratitude not only improves our mood but it also can extend our lives. Some... Continue Reading →
Honoring Veterans
The company where I work, Abbott, sponsored a Veterans Day event on Tuesday that focused on the 25th anniversary of the release of the documentary film They Drew Fire. The film told the story of artists sent to the front in World War II to create art that would help sell U.S. war bonds. In... Continue Reading →
Reconnecting
Earlier this week as I walked out of my local Starbucks with my mobile order, I made eye contact with a driver pulling out of her parking space. We immediately smiled and waved, recognizing each other as colleagues from the two years I spent working for Northwestern University more than seven years ago. That moment... Continue Reading →