Love & Wisdom

Papa and His Pronouns

Papa and His Pronouns

A parent works to adjust to his young daughter’s preferences

I love my daughter. Although I’m not sure she’s my daughter. I now call her my child. My little monkey. Sparky. Love of my life. My kiddo. But never, ever, my little girl, even though she attends Seattle Girls School. Because when Valen turned 11 last year, she told her mother and I that she…

You’re Not Doing it Wrong

You’re Not Doing it Wrong

Navigating the soiled nest of family life

This morning, I found myself running late as I tried to get my daughter to the bus, but I wasn’t alone in my rush. There was a parade of cars driven by grumpy, frazzled parents eager to position themselves in front of the bus before the next stop. No one wants to miss the bus….

Capturing Hope

Capturing Hope

A picture is worth more than a thousand words

A year ago, 23-year-old Anika wouldn’t have recognized the person she is today, emerging from a scattered and difficult past with deep gratitude for the support she’s received.  “My journey has been broken, lots of broken roads, and very narrow,” says Anika, who asked that her last name not be used. “But I’m on a…

Editor's Note: An Experience That Lives  Forever

Editor’s Note: An Experience That Lives Forever

The world isn't always as it seems

It was Friday night after a long week. I had just arrived home. The red light was flashing on my answering machine (remember those?). I was ready for the weekend. The call crushed me. My first love, my high school sweetheart, my partner in mischief, had passed away due to complications from Multiple Sclerosis. Gwen…

‘The Answer is in Us’

‘The Answer is in Us’

Equity expert Erin Jones encourages everyone to ‘show up for one another’

Erin Jones has a unique perspective on race. She was put up for adoption after her white birth mother’s family refused to let the mixed-race child come home. She was adopted by a white couple whose parents also struggled to accept her. She was raised in Minnesota until age 5, and then moved with her…

How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days: My Way 

How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days: My Way 

A professional matchmaker makes every mistake in the book, and owns up to it

In the movie How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, Kate Hudson’s assignment is to get Matthew McConaughey hooked, then get him to break up with her in 10 days by doing every no-no in the book that would drive any man — any sane person — crazy. This social experiment would be a…

Publisher's Note: The Lost Art of Civility

Publisher’s Note: The Lost Art of Civility

How to bring back respectful discourse

Can a city be too “woke”? That’s a provocative question. If we root the term to its original definition from early 1900s to 1950s African American culture, “woke” is an adjective  generally defined as “being alert to racial prejudice and discrimination.” Beginning about 10 years ago, it came to also encompass a broader awareness of…

Aging Well Really Is The Best Revenge

Aging Well Really Is The Best Revenge

We can all learn something from the late Tina Turner

I’m bothered by the term “aging gracefully,” whatever that means. I think a better phrase is “aging dynamically,” being your vital, wisest self, a carefully-curated product of living and learning over many years. I know. I am not trying to be Sally Sunshine here and overlook the harsher aspects of being in the third and…

Where Innovation Meets Education

Where Innovation Meets Education

Seattle Girls School empowers girls to change the world

An innovative experiment at a small school in Seattle’s Central District may hold the key to the future of education. The Seattle Girls School serves students that identify as female or gender nonconforming. Rather than abiding by a traditional grading system for every assignment, students at the private middle school get letter grades only at…

The Grind Of A Grudge

The Grind Of A Grudge

MOVING PAST ANGER AND LETTING GO OF TOXIC ENERGY

I was watching a Seahawks practice when the man I’d shunned for three years offered me an apology. “I’m sorry,” said Dave Mahler. You might know him as Softy. He hosts the afternoon sports-talk show at KJR 93.3 FM. “I was wrong, and I shouldn’t have said what I did.” He then offered me his…

Live, Laugh, Bomb

Live, Laugh, Bomb

A ROOKIE TRIES STAND-UP COMEDY, WITH MIXED RESULTS

As with many Tinder dates, things didn’t go quite as I expected. For example, I didn’t intend to have multiple guys I’d matched with in the same place, at the same time. Especially when that place was a comedy open mic that was going to be my first and possibly only attempt at stand-up. After…

Letter to Seattle: Bank Statement

Letter to Seattle: Bank Statement

YWCA opens door to financial career

This is a letter from Tameka Siplin, a program graduate at YWCA Seattle | King | Snohomish, the region’s oldest and largest nonprofit organization focused on the needs of women; providing services and advocacy to support stable homes and economic advancement; reduce violence and improve health; and promote racial equity and social justice. Dear YWCA…

Fitness and Friendship

Fitness and Friendship

Couch potato finds camaraderie in running clubs

I never thought I would be the type of person to join a running club. Picture a subpar physique lacking in muscle and mental fortitude, throw in an admittedly too-long stint of smoking cigarettes, and add an aversion to hills as the cherry on top. However, when I moved to Seattle, I quickly learned it…

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