WORK
The "Work" is taking a holiday today. I'm not thinking about work in really any form over the next couple of days! I'll be back next week with much more here.
COMMUNITY
This week, I want to talk about my most important community.
Family.
More specifically, my mom.
My mom passed away in August 2020, and today would have been her birthday.
Growing up, December 24 was not Christmas Eve until it got dark. During the day, it was a celebration of the Queen of Christmas - my mom.
She made Christmas time absolutely magical. Not just for me and my brother, but our entire extended family. Giant parties with all of the cousins. Fun games and tricks on my dad. (She once turned the clocks back to make him think it was later - he didn't want to get up at 5AM. He did, of course, but he thought it was 7AM! I'm not sure how long it took him to realize that.) And for strangers too. More than once, we had a family friend, or kids in the foster system who had to leave immediately, staying with us with nowhere to go over the holidays and really, at any time of the year.
I could write a book about her. I won't - I'll keep this short-ish! But though I think of her every single day, today, I am thinking of her constantly. A mix of absolute joy because she would be so happy to see us and the kids and where we are in life, and heartache because, well, she is not here to see us. But my dad is. My brother is. My son is. My niece and nephew are. Her five sisters and their kids are. And my husband and stepdaughters are. She lives on through all of us.
So today, we have our traditions that we carry on and honor her. Lunch for the 18th year in a row at Moritomo. (She and my dad joined us for her birthday lunch a couple of times - some of our most fun holiday memories!) Christmas pajamas opened on Christmas Eve for the kids. (Adults now, but still.) "Santa" gifts, different from when they were kids, but always unwrapped. (We do wrap the gifts from us!) I was an adult I think before I realized "Santa" did not wrap gifts for everyone. I found out later it was a tradition started by my grandmother because she had six girls and was just not going to wrap that many gifts! As a mom and stepmom now, I definitely get that - she was a genius! So a fun, multi-generation tradition was born.
So today, I honor my mom, the woman who gave me my sense of humor and love of retail therapy. Who taught me how to treat others with kindness and generosity. Who showed me unconditional love, somehow even through my mid-teens which definitely would have been VERY rough for her! Who helped raise my son in his early years - I do not know what I would have done without her then. Who my teenage boyfriends fell completely in love with - and not just because she made the best apple pie in the world. Who inspired the tattoo on my left arm (it has her initials woven in it.) And who gave me my love of travel and the literal gift of Disney World - we get to think of her and one of her favorite places every time we stay on DVC points.
A woman whose last words were to me "I love you." I'm so grateful I get to hold that in my heart.
Miss you mom.
COFFEE
Coffee is also taking a break! I'll be back next week with another exclusive pic. (And don't worry, I'm still drinking plenty of it!)
But for now, here's one of the last photos of my mom and I together, from the fall of 2019.
Have a great rest of your week!
Happy Holidays!
I'll be back in your inbox next week with more Work. Community. Coffee.
And next year...... stay tuned for a brand new look and feel, with more content!
My Partner Spotlight
TEXTIO
I'm thrilled to have partnered with Textio over the past few months. I love their focus on centering the human experience, while creating better work with AI.
Textio is many things to me, and to their customers. But here's a snippet from their website.
"Employees want growth. Managers want it to be easier. HR wants better control over the process. Textio helps you stop failing at feedback, so you can start growing careers without adding process."
Check them out, and check out my course on Thriving After Burnout: A Manager's Perspective. It is less than 30 minutes, and is my most personal thing I've done on video to date. I tried to share my own experience, while also bringing in practical tips. Let me know what you think!
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