My husband and I have a favorite meteorologist we watch almost every night. She is animated and professional, gesturing to the weather systems coming through and trying to accurately forecast the problematic weather we observe here in the Pacific Northwest. But that’s not the REAL reason we anticipate her portion of the news.

One Friday a month, I spend my day and evening with two very different, yet strangely similar, age-groups: Two year olds and middleschoolers. You’re familiar with the phrase, “herding cats”, right?

Twenty-three years ago, early on New Year’s Day, a woman lay curled up on her baby blue living room carpet. Her two girls were at sleepovers at friends’ houses; she didn’t know where her husband was. She wasn’t even really sure she knew where SHE was, which was, unfortunately, not all that unusual.