October 12, 2018, a Friday evening, at IKEA. My bonus check from the film set had come through, and I needed to start getting my first apartment in Atlanta ready. I had not planned on an apartment and therefore had not planned on having to purchase all of the necessary furnishings. I had been in Atlanta for nearly a year and my husband and dogs did not follow me as I was setting us up with a new life. I was on my own now. Like it or not. I had no choice. I needed everything.

Twenty-six years ago today, my mom passed away due to complications caused by anorexia , and I miss her today as much as I did the moment she took her last breath. I still remember so many details of that day. It was a Thursday. I was wearing my favorite grey pants and a pink sweater with a white turtleneck underneath. My shoes were funky but comfortable black platform shoes that made me look so tall. I had taken a turkey sandwich with me to school, but since my lunch and pl

One week after I moved to Atlanta, I felt the rug pulled out from under me. He called to say he had to rush Sadie Sammiches, our sweet pitbull mix who genuinely looked like an alien baby, to the emergency vet because she was yelping in pain. The staff ran some x-rays to locate the source. The next afternoon, the doctor called my cell while I was covering the reception desk. She’d tried reaching him first, but when he didn’t answer, she called the secondary number. I sat there