Morning Cuppa Joy

It’s my birthday Nov 3rd, and I’m thinking about how differently we see age before and after we arrive. From a four-year-old eager to turn five, to Gail Sheehy’s Passages, to my parents’ later years, and to my own retirement, I’m exploring what birthdays mean and why aging needn’t become another competition. There’s even a playful idea for using AI to appreciate the face we have today. Join me for...

Just when I think I've mastered something, technology changes the rules. Between rebuilding websites, reopening an Etsy shop, and revisiting a long-neglected Facebook page, I've had plenty of opportunities to practice patience. This week's Cuppa explores the lessons life keeps offering us and the value of remaining curious, adaptable, and willing to learn. Send me a note.  If today&...

How often do we judge ourselves or others by expectations that fail to recognize our individual gifts? A little girl's progress report, an old fable about animals attending school, and the television series Patience inspire reflections on acceptance, belonging, and the difference one person's kindness can make. Along the way, memories of growing up in the 1960s and a personal experience...

What does the inventor of dynamite have to do with peace? Alfred Nobel's remarkable life and unexpected legacy offer a fascinating story of invention, contradiction, and a prize that continues to capture the world's attention. But exploring the history of the Nobel Peace Prize leads to a more personal question. What if the peace we seek in the world begins with the peace we cultivate wit...

What would a day without volunteers look like? After an early morning welcoming cyclists to our Rotary fundraiser, I found myself thinking about all the people who give what they can—and what their contributions make possible. Behind every fundraiser, resale store, and outreach program are people who saw a need, came up with a plan, and enrolled others into joining them. This week’s Cuppa looks at...

When someone we love is hurting, we want to help. But how do we know whether what we offer is what they actually need? Feeling helpless when someone we love is going through a hard time is painful. This week, I remember the friends who cared for me after Michael died and consider how to offer help that fits what a person actually needs. Sometimes that means making soup. Sometimes it means just qui...

Fall is a season for gathering and preserving, but not everything precious can be stored away. An afternoon with Mom, a collection of o nearly 100-year-old family photographs, and a story called “Make the Chili” remind me to notice the ordinary opportunities love gives us to listen and connect. Send me a note.  If today's Morning Cuppa Joy stirred something in you—made you smile, think, or wo...

Every so often, in the middle of an entirely ordinary moment, love can catch us by surprise and fill our hearts to overflowing. We cannot summon it. We can only recognize what has been there all along waiting for us to notice. Today's Cuppa speaks to those precious, unpredictable moments and to how gratitude, joy, and happiness are found right alongside grief and loss. Send me a note.  If tod...

What happens when the familiar music of our lives changes? Children arrive and leave, careers end, relationships shift, caregiving reshapes our days, and retirement creates a new kind of freedom. In this episode of Morning Cuppa Joy, I reflect on the routines that steady us and what it means to find our footing when life speeds up, slows down, or begins playing an entirely different song. (Artwork...

In remembering Dolly Parton, I find myself drawn not only to her music and generosity, but also to the way she saw people. She recognized beauty where others placed shame, intelligence where others saw limitations, and possibility in children who needed an opportunity. Dolly lived authentically, protected the private time she needed to write, and helped others shine. Send me a note.  If today&apos...

A potluck for an old friend got me thinking about the story of Stone Soup , the communities that have moved through my life, and the different ways each of us contributes. Some people have a gift for bringing people together. Others help tend the connections once they're formed. Perhaps community doesn't require us all to bring the same thing to the table. It asks us to show up and bring...

How well do we really know the people whose lives intersect ours? Sometimes it takes an empty chair to make us wonder about the person who used to sit there. The deaths of two fellow Rotarians—and memories of my son Michael’s celebration of life—have me thinking about the stories we don’t know, the people we sometimes fail to notice, and our very human need to belong. Perhaps we can’t know everyth...

Sometimes we think we need more—a little more space, another shelf, maybe one more bookcase. But what happens when we stop looking at what we're missing long enough to really see what we already have? A $10 Facebook Marketplace bookcase was supposed to bring a little order to an overflowing sewing room. Instead, it led to several trips to Home Depot, $250 in materials, two newly redesigned wo...

He was fired for reading a poem to nine-year-olds. I had to know the rest of the story. When I dug deeper, I discovered far more than the story of a young teacher losing his job. I discovered Jonathan Kozol—a man who spent more than sixty years making sure children who were overlooked would not remain invisible. As another school year begins, this Morning Cuppa Joy is a tribute to teachers everywh...

Sometimes the greatest gift we can give another person is helping them see something true and beautiful about themselves. A kind note from a podcast listener, an old rabbi's story, and a remarkable novel reminded me of one simple truth: we each have the power to help another person feel truly seen. This week's Cuppa Joy explores the gifts of listening, encouragement, and noticing the goo...

None of us gets through life without a few before-and-after moments. We all have them—those defining moments that divide our lives into before and after. Some arrive with celebration. Others come with a phone call we never wanted to receive. Those are the uninvited ones—the defining moments we didn't choose. But we can choose our response. What happens next depends on the questions we ask. Th...

“To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow.” Audrey Hepburn A barren corner at a familiar Sacramento intersection stirred a memory from forty years ago about a remarkable woman known as the Flower Lady. Fran Yermol’s decades of volunteer gardening prove that one person can make a difference. Her story is a reflection on community, volunteerism, gardening, and the small acts that leave lasting le...

How do you define play? Does it require a court, a fairway, or a field to count? What if your playground is your kitchen...your sewing room...or your garage workshop? A morning spent making pepper jelly with friends reminded me how important playing together is. As we age, our playgrounds change, but our need for fun never ends.  In this week's Cuppa Joy , I reflect on the revival of traditio...

What do a 250-year-old nation, a worn Thanksgiving tablecloth, and a neighborhood Fourth of July celebration have in common? More than I realized. Sometimes the most ordinary things remind us of the promises we inherit—and the ones we choose to pass along. As America celebrates 250 years of independence, I found myself looking at an old Bicentennial tablecloth my mother bought in 1976. What began...

What stories do you hope your children or grandchildren will remember long after you're gone? A reunion with old friends, a conversation with my son, and memories of my mother and grandparents reminded me that stories are more than memories. They carry our values, our faith, our resilience, and our love. A late-night conversation with lifelong friends led me to reflect on the stories that hav...

What if someone had shown your sixteen-year-old self a photograph from your future and everything in it seemed impossible? Father's Day can stir up a wide range of emotions. In this week's Cuppa Joy, I reflect on how babies arrive with no instruction manual, on the parenting lessons we inherit—be they good or bad, and the wisdom that age can bring. It's also the story of an unexpect...

Why do stories of kindness touch us so deeply? And what happens when children are invited to put those lessons into action? This week I'm sharing the story behind Steve Hartman's Kindness 101 project and the unexpected ripple effect it has created in classrooms across America. Along the way, I found myself reflecting on the power of stories—not just the ones we hear, but the ones we tell...

What helps a child survive life's hardest seasons? A story about orphan trains led me down an unexpected path—through the childhood experiences of my grandparents, the beloved pages of Anne of Green Gables , and memories of my own family. As I reflected on children who have been displaced by loss, poverty, divorce, and circumstance, one truth kept emerging: every child needs to know they belo...

As artificial intelligence grows smarter, what will help us remain deeply human? Artificial intelligence is everywhere these days—sparking excitement in some people and fear in others. In this week’s Cuppa Joy, I reflect on my own surprising journey with A.I.—from learning WordPress and podcasting to troubleshooting technology and even keeping my fishpond healthy. But alongside the convenience and...

Even when life upends everything we’ve planned and hoped for, one freedom still remains—the freedom to choose our response. This week’s Cuppa Joy explores the layered concept of choice—not simple choices like chocolate or vanilla, but the deeper choices we face when life upends our plans and leaves us confronting circumstances we never would have chosen for ourselves. Inspired by the life and work...