If You Love Someone, Let Them Go
I’ve always heard that if you love someone you should let them go. Personally, I struggle with letting go. As much as I know that change is a powerful, necessary force in life, I still resist it, fight it, and dread it. As much as I’ve been dreading today, I never realized how much it would hurt to let go of my baby sister.
Although Molly has been a jet setter from day one, she always seemed to be within reach. We rarely saw her when she lived nearby, but she was there when it mattered and we knew that she was within reach. When she moved as far as Hawaii, she was still within the country. Today, she boarded a plane for Germany. As far as I want to reach out my hand, she’s just too far away to take it now. Continue reading
A Family’s Journey of Life and Death Tests, Strengthens Faith
Published December 2004 in The Messenger,
The Newspaper of the Belleville Catholic Diocese
Every night, Jamie Detmer clutches a teddy bear as she sleeps. A recorder inside the bear allows her to hear the heartbeat of her baby who died suddenly this summer.
The crib is packed away in the basement and the baby clothes are no longer hanging in the closet – yet the teddy bear remains. Continue reading
Adoption Brings a Dozen Bundles of Joy
Published November 2006 in The Messenger,
The Newspaper of the Belleville Catholic Diocese
The telephone rings, and the front door slams as a teenager enters from school. An 8-year old runs through the kitchen with a superhero costume, complete with a cape. Mom opens her planner to discuss this week’s upcoming schedule. A cell phone rings, and dad asks one of the 12 children to remove a bookbag from the table. It may sound like chaos, but Ken and Mary Besse said it’s more like “organized chaos.”
Though recent movies like “Cheaper By the Dozen” and “Yours, Mine, and Ours” portray fictional families acting out everyday chaos with 12 or more children, the action within this Millstadt, Ill. family’s household is very real. Continue reading
About Me
Three words to describe me? Passionate. Motivated. Curious. These traits help me as a college media adviser and professor, freelance writer, author and mom. From student journalism and higher education to parenting and freelance writing, this site, focused on writing, reflecting and teaching, offers a mix of blogs with a hint of humor, sarcasm, and inspiration, as well as my published stories on just about every possible topic.
Feel free to browse my sample works including feature news, magazine, and web copywriting pieces from the past and present. You can also pick up my new book “Screen-Free Fun: 400 Activities for the Whole Family” now available. Check back often for daily updates, blog entries, and additional stories. Feel free to contact me directly at shphilpott@gmail.com, follow me on Twitter, or grab tips for Screen-Free Fun on our Facebook page. Comments are welcome!
Shannon Philpott-Sanders 