All posts by Carolyn Barrett

Growing Up Leap Year

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I started life out on the wrong foot. You see, I was born on a day that doesn’t exist three years out of every four. February 29th. Leap day.

As a child, instead of thinking this was cool, I was embarrassed by it. I didn’t want what I felt was negative attention and was very jealous when the other kids had a birthday. They were brought to the front of the class for everyone to sing to them. I usually didn’t have a birthday, so was often overlooked. Or I would be told, “It’s not really your birthday” by the mean kids. I just wanted to be like everyone else.

Fast forward to decades later and I can recount the typical things you hear as a leapling. This is how an exchange goes when someone finds out you were born on leap day:

Continue reading Growing Up Leap Year →

My Christmas Reality

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I had a post in the works for this Christmas season. I trashed it this morning. In it’s place, I’m just going to speak my truth. Maybe you will relate to it, maybe you won’t. Maybe someone out there needs to hear this, so I’ll write it for them.

I hate Christmas. There. I said it. Not the true meaning of the holiday, but the way it plays out. Continue reading My Christmas Reality →

The Day After

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The gravy boat is empty. The crowd has gone home. Leftovers are put away. The kitchen is clean again. Yet the smell of a roasting turkey lingers in the house. I wonder how long that will last as I reflect on the day.

It feels a bit lonely this morning. I love preparing Thanksgiving dinner and having a full house. The smells, the noise, the laughter. Sharing a meal and too much of it at that! Fun conversations and tripping over each other in our less than modest home. Seeing family when we are too far apart and don’t see each other often enough. Inviting new friends to join in. It was all good.

But today I woke up with thoughts of what I could have done differently. Continue reading The Day After →