Looking back at my camera roll from New Year’s Day 2025, I see a photo that still catches my breath. It’s my mother’s hand, signing the papers to transfer my dad to a long-term care facility. It was the start of eight months of “out-of-pocket” reality—the kind of “highly needed care” that health insurance seems to think is optional.
In that same photo, resting on my lap, are two books: James Baldwin’s The Fire Next Time and The Racial Healing Workbook.
As a white woman married to a Black man, raising a biracial daughter, and running a counseling practice, these aren’t just “topics” to me—they are the fabric of my family’s life and the heartbeat of my work.
The Lowlights (Or: Does This Affirmation Come with a Refund?)
If I’m being “counselor-honest,” standing here on the threshold of this New Year, I can’t say I’m jumping for joy. The last few years have been a marathon run through mud. Between navigating “sucky” health insurance (can we get an “amen” on rising premiums?) and watching my self-sacrificing hero of a father suffer, I’ve been stretched thin.
And then there is the business side. I want to be clear: I absolutely love my job. Counseling is my passion. But sharing Love? That is my calling.
The hard part of 2025 was the “discipline” required. Discipline is getting up and doing the work when you’re tired of doing it—not because the passion is gone, but because the climb is steep. As a small business owner, it is a lonely road to have a vision for community healing and realize that finding the working capital is a struggle when not everyone shares that same fire. Sometimes I look around and wonder, How did I become one of the ‘older, wiser ‘ ones? Who arranged such a thing? I’d like to speak to the manager, please.
The “God Winks” and Highs
If the lows were the weight, the highs were the wings. 2025 wasn’t just a year of survival; it was a year of profound connection.
- Walking the Path: Visiting the IAAM in Charleston and the Civil Rights Center in Greensboro wasn’t just a history trip. As I looked at the names of the enslaved at Gadsden’s Wharf, I thought of my husband’s lineage and the world my daughter navigates. Seeing how just four people at a lunch counter could change history gives me the courage to keep fighting for the “big things” I saw in my 2022 vision.
- The Milestones: Celebrating 25 years of marriage at Steak 48, remembering that “Divine Love” message from our wedding night in Chattanooga. Seeing my grandson’s first birthday and watching my daughter receive her LCMHCA to join me in the practice. Seeing my son-in-law receive a scholarship for his Master’s in mental health. The legacy of healing in this family is growing.
- The “Wizard of Oz” Moments: From the lunar ring around the moon on New Year’s Eve to the “God winks” at the NC Transportation Museum—located right across from my grandfather Shepherd’s old watchmaking school. He passed 25 years ago to the day, yet there I was, feeling the connection between the generations.
- The Work: Every person who walked through the doors of Shepherd Way. Every story of healing. Our first in-person workshop may not have been a financial windfall, but the experience and the Love shared were priceless.
Real Talk for the New Year
To my clients and friends: I spent the holidays reminding you to find joy through your current suffering. I have to give that same advice to the woman in the mirror.
Is what we are doing working for most? Sometimes it feels like we’re doing the same thing over and over (is that “insanity” or “tradition”?). But I am fueled by the stories of those who came before us—those who had far less and did far more.
I don’t have all the answers for 2026. My health insurance still isn’t great, and the stress is real. But I have my family, I have my “God winks,” and I have a daughter now standing beside me in this work.
I will have total peace one day. Until then, I have God, I have my calling to Love, and I have the work.
