I've stopped letting people throw shade at me without calling them on it. It's a funny thing people do to true warriors...they test us...they see how far we can be pushed. For me now, it isn't even an inch. I'm tired of always being gracious and the happy hostess. It gets me nowhere and opens the door for even people I've called friends to be underhanded. Who needs it? We have been taught, "turn the other cheek" and "be the bigger person" but what if that means becoming every

It may be cliche but on Thanksgiving our little Warrior family really did go around the table to say what made us grateful. We would raise our glass and say what made us give thanks for every person seated around our table. Today I raise my glass to each of YOU! This Thanksgiving I am grateful for the memories we all have of Warrior. I have so many reveries that stir gratitude in my heart but one feels like a poem. I remember the girls were very tiny and outside in the courty

On November 25th Steve Michalek will get through the day that belonged to Connor's birth. These milestones are so rough, especially in conjunction with the holiday season. In my heart I feel Connor forever tied to my husband. Steve accepting in Connor's name the inaugural Warrior Award makes him family to me. I am fiercely loyal and protective of our Warrior Clan. I want desperately to help move everyone I care about forward and mend heartbreak; piecing together what's been s

I don't know that I'm exceptional in any way except for the fact I'm too exceptionally stubborn to ever quit. I've been this way my entire life. Meeting my match in Warrior at such a young age made me more solidly bold. I can remember so clearly the way he'd look at me when I'd get on a passionate rant and the way a chuckle met his eyes when I was effusively (or overly) excited. Denise recently reminded me of how he didn't even try to tame my fiery passion about something inc

When people comment on the progress I've made since losing Warrior I always express that I DECIDED to LIVE. I could have decided the opposite but I honor his last breath in every breath I take. It's true, there are things outside our power but more of our life is absolutely about the decisions we make. There's a list of things I CHOSE to do as I healed the girls' and my lives. I decided not to be bitter. I chose to hold gratitude in my heart. I CHOSE to be the storyteller he