What if celebration, achievement, and that knot-in-your-stomach travel together?
Spoiler: they do. They did all summer.
Portugal put on her best: hot but kind, evenings like velvet, even Sintra behaving—no moody wind, just light that lingered.
What made it gold
All my kids under one roof.
Long dinners that got honest somewhere between the olives and the tea.
Sauna confessions. Lazy hangouts. Friends drifting in and out like tides.
Mornings quiet till noon (teenagers are nocturnal; science confirms).
We slipped to Spain for a minute—lavish lunches, playlists rotating DJ-style, stories traded mile after mile. Twenty-two years together celebrated in the most accurate way: connection on repeat, irritations included. (Real love has texture.)
Work, but real
July was deep-dive workshops and training.
August was uncomfortable action—lots of it.
Result: momentum.
- Trial coaching sessions for Say YES to Life Again with two brilliant midlife women—refining the edges before the late-September release.
- A podcast interview about my story on September 9.
- Selected to speak at a women’s summit in March 2026—prep already rolling.
Evidence over hype. Show up, adjust, repeat.
What’s true beneath the joy
Gina left for Utrecht on Sunday. Nick flew back to the U.S. on Thursday. Joey’s still here (bless). After a full house, the silence hit different. That hollow-in-the-stomach feeling? That’s love stretching—exactly what it’s supposed to do.
The reframe
They’re happy. They’re ready. That was the whole point—the years of scaffolding so they can climb.
And me? Fewer grocery runs. Smaller laundry mountains. FaceTime while I stir dinner. More space to build the next chapter I’m saying YES to—fully, loudly, imperfectly.
Closing the loop
To a summer that softened me and sharpened me.
To endings that make space, and beginnings that don’t ask permission.
The photo: empty plates, crumpled napkins, sun in our faces.
Real table. Real talk. Real life.
