This isn't a eulogy for a stranger. It's a thank you. Gloria Steinem was one of the few feminists in her day that truly understood the connection between sexism and racism. She brought together diverse groups and understood the importance of linking arms with black women in the fight for equality.

A little note on motherhood I started as a journal entry on a train back from Paris, all of us tired, and ended as a realization: the mother I always pictured myself becoming isn't the mother my kids actually need.

There is a version of me from 2016 who knew exactly how to rest. Somehow between then and now, I lost her. It took my body shaking to bring that part of self back.

People usually refer to their late thirties to share what they’ve learned so far. Turns out I learned a lot of defining life lessons at seventeen, most of which I still live by.

The woman I looked up to was always a few steps ahead in life. She was three years ahead of me, and in childhood years that might as well been a decade. Now it’s been two decades since the last time I saw her but in grief years that might as well been last week.

I tell the delivery guy my birthday is coming. I tell my kid's classmates. I tell anyone who will listen. And when the day actually arrives, I’m MIA.