Tree of Life – Family

Where the roots hold steady and the next generation grows.

Scottie Dog Giggles

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It’s ridiculous enough that Angus insists on sitting on my lap while we are at the park. It’s next level that he laughs while doing it.

Angus is the 3 year old Scottie Dog who I bought for my Mom, who lives with me and is also 100% Scottish. He’s named after my Grandpa’s Grandpa, who was notorious throughout the Highlands of Scotland for being a bugger. His collar is the Clan McGregor plaid, which was my Mom’s maiden name. Pretty thoughtful gift, huh? A nice generational story, right?

It’s amazing how you can bring a little animal into a home with everything planned out, and they say – “um, no.” Baby Angus arrived and immediately assessed the house. He’d go to Grammy for unconditional love & affection, he’d stay away from the teenage boy because he is often grumpy, because – teenager – and me? I’d do EVERTYTHING else:

Feed
Walk
Bath
Vet appts
Trips to the groomer

And the ever present, let dog in – let dog out. I work from home so I take Angus to doggy daycare twice a week for 1/2 days so that I can actually get some work done. So on top of his breed traits of being stubborn & pushy, we now have ‘day care kid’ personality – part of the pack. I live in fear of the neighborhood Ring cameras, daily they see Angus & I out for our afternoon tussle. We don’t go for walks, we go for public power struggles. He LOVES taking me on, he laughs & laughs.

I am known wide & far as Angus’s Mom, sigh. Yes, I now ‘own it’. I am The Mom of the house, all creatures great & small.

Until My Heart Stops Beating

Tree of Life - Family / By
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I’m still thinking about the profound, deeply heartfelt conversation I had with my 11‑year‑old niece this past weekend. She amazes me in ways I don’t always have words for. We sat together and talked about the things most adults avoid — mental health, family dynamics, insecurities, letting go, hopes, dreams. It was raw and honest, the kind of conversation that shifts something inside you.

Somewhere in the middle of it, I realized our relationship is changing.

Not fading — evolving.

Not drifting — deepening.

She’s growing into herself, and I’m growing into the version of me she needs now.

At one point, I looked at her and said softly, “I am going to love you until my heart stops beating.”

She paused, eyes wide and vulnerable in that way only kids can be, and whispered, “And even more after that?”

I nodded. “I will find a way.”

Her serious, exquisitely beautiful face broke into the smallest smirk, and we locked eyes. She nodded back — not questioning, not hoping, but knowing. She trusted me. She believed me. She 100% knows that I will find a way. That I will never leave her.

Moments like this are the roots of our family tree — the quiet, powerful ones that shape who we become. The ones that remind me that love isn’t just something we give; it’s something we build, generation by generation.