I was surprised and humbled yesterday to receive the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution Bronze Good Citizenship Medal and the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution America250! Commendation. What an honor!
Continue reading “An honor I never saw coming”
My family is devastated. My stepdad, Jerry, passed away on Wednesday. It doesn’t feel real. The weight of it hasn’t fully settled, but it’s coming. I still can’t believe I’m writing this- we thought Jerry would be here forever.
Continue reading “Jerry Miller, 1953-2026”
My parents found themselves unexpectedly busy not too long ago and I was drafted into dog duty. It was time to take Eliza on a walk, so off we went down the long drive behind their neighborhood. I hadn’t been back there in years! Somewhere between the first few steps and the bridge at the end, the past came rushing back.
Continue reading “A familiar path revisited”
My dad died fifteen years ago today. I’d been batting around writing something formal to mark the occasion, but trying to compress his life into something tidy would require several volumes, a legal team, and a slew of affidavits to verify the most unbelievable parts. Dad was a story, or a series of them; layered, contradictory, and enormous. I’m not the raconteur that he was, but I’ll give it a shot with one of my favorite memories.
Continue reading “It’s been fifteen years since Dad died”
There are a number ways to celebrate an important birthday. You could go out to dinner. You could buy a thoughtful gift. You could even play it safe with a tie. Or -if you’re a recently divorced family operating with five dollars, three kids, and an alarming amount of confidence- you could attempt to recreate early aviation history in the playground of an elementary school. Here’s how that turned out.
Continue reading “Three kids, five bucks, and the world’s shortest flight”
I’ve loved Hot Wheels for as long as I can remember. Honestly, what kid doesn’t? Lately, I’ve rediscovered the YouTube channel baremetalHW, where battered old die-cast cars -Hot Wheels Redlines, Matchbox, Johnny Lightning, and even more obscure brands like Siku and Corgi- are carefully restored back to life. Watching those tiny survivors get a second chance has stirred up a few die-cast memories of my own. Here’s one of them.
Continue reading “The Bugatti incident “
I’m neither a weatherman nor a groundhog, but I’m fairly certain Monday was the coldest day of the year so far. With the wind chill firmly into the negatives, I naturally chose to spend it outdoors traipsing through a snowy cemetery with my Aunt Jan. We were there to find the graves of two ancestors who died more than a century ago.
Continue reading “My aunt and I braved the coldest day ever to track down our ancestors at Strong Cemetery”
One of my favorite people, my Aunt Sue, died unexpectedly. She was my grandpa’s little sister, but to me, she was more than just a branch on the family tree: Aunt Sue helped shape my life more than she probably ever realized! She left an imprint that time won’t easily erase.
Continue reading “Thank you, Aunt Sue”
You didn’t ask for it, but Hiding in Plain Sight is my gift to you and the internet at large. Publishing here is rewarding in its own right, but the real joy comes when we stumble onto something together and get to chat about it. Those shared discoveries, and the conversations that follow, are what make this blog come alive! Unfortunately, I need to step back for a while. Don’t worry, though- new posts will continue to go live every morning.
Continue reading “Taking a break from blogging”
I don’t know what it is about this holiday season, but depression has decided to crash the party. I’m worried, I’m exhausted, and I feel like I’ve already emptied every tool in my kit. When that wave hits, I have to anchor myself somehow to stay connected to something real. For me, that sometimes means quite literally putting my hands in the dirt and digging into the earth.
Continue reading “Digging for answers when the depression hits”