On Art & Heaven & Making Mistakes

March 20, 2021 by Jodie in Writing, Faith

“I don’t think there are artists in heaven because in heaven you don’t make mistakes”.

These words were spoken by my 8-year-old daughter last week. The daughter who has a perfectionist streak because she shares the DNA of two perfectionists.

She spoke them calmly to my husband. She was reflective. Curious. A deep thinker in a tiny body
I’ve been thinking about those words all week.

To be an artist is to make mistakes.

God loves creation.

There are no mistakes in heaven.

I don’t know how to reconcile all of these things.

Young Love

February 19, 2021 by Jodie in Family, Love

Conor ran into my grandparent’s house and immediately found my grandpa sitting in his rocking chair. He sprinted into the arms of the man he’s named after and declared, “I missed you!!” As my grandpa stood up, Conor noticed the string of a red cellophane balloon above him.

“I pway wif bawoon?!?!”

They brought the balloon to the living room and we took turns lifting Conor to reach the white string as he kept letting the balloon drift to the ceiling.

“Whose balloon is that?” Norah asked.

Something Important

August 14, 2020 by Jodie in Balance, Family, Parenting, Transition, Writing

“Hey Mom”, Norah asked as we sat at the table – one of us coloring and the other meal planning. It was a rare Sunday afternoon when the apartment was quiet while Conor took an extra long nap and Brett went for an extra long run, allowing for slow, uninterrupted conversations with my first grader. “I have a question for you. When I’m a mom someday, what if I want to have a job but I also don’t want to hire a nanny? What do I do with my kids?”

Apparently Norah wanted to bypass a couple decades of tough conversations and jump right into the mom guilt arena.

Ashes to ashes. Dust to dust.

July 09, 2020 by Jodie in Faith, Home, Transition

I almost burned you down last year. It was an accident, but still, I’m sorry. I sat up straight in bed back in the city, my heart pounding, fully awake. The clock blinked green - 5:03 am. I had only been asleep for five hours but I could not go back. I could only think of one thing.

Did I leave that candle burning at the cabin?

It's Just Us Here Now

May 22, 2020 by Jodie in Home, Hope

Each year over 60 million tourists visit New York City. In 2010, I was one of them.

I spent a week with a few colleagues at Columbia’s Teachers College during the day and toured the city in the evening. We saw Jersey Boys and walked the Brooklyn Bridge to stand in line for two hours for Grimaldi’s pizza. We took a tour of the NBC studios and snapped photos on the top of Rockefeller Center. We walked through Central Park and followed our noses to Levain Bakery for the famous cookies. We stood on the steps of Cafe Lalo, peeking inside to see where Tom Hanks stood up Meg Ryan in You’ve Got Mail.