I feel everything so keenly and bluntly today. A grade A example of a seemingly bipolar being, sensing each moment pointedly and on each end of the spectrum. Some fill me with what feels like a hot cup of tea, filled with surprising lemon tartness and smooth honey and warmth and safety, making it difficult to breathe in a way where everything seems to skip a beat- some are ragged and painful and sharp around the edges, making it difficult to breathe and not in the lovely way where everything seems to skip a beat.
Tag Archives: daughter
Pillars.

Andy looking groovy, Mom so mod, and Pops a true gent.
I had the joy of celebrating this past weekend– and celebrating hard. With friends and family clustering around at every side throughout, it was well worth putting my phone down, laptop away, and simply being with my most adored ones.
The family tree.
It wasn’t until getting off the phone with our dear family friend, Tina, yesterday that I realized that I had been quite mum about well, my mum’s marriage.
Dad, year six.
It has been six years today since my dad, Hal, died. It feels like that time has passed in a heartbeat yet in the same breath like he’s been in the shadows of my memory for a decade.
Birthday.
Last week many celebrated the birthday of my amazing mother, Sheila. We first enjoyed a warm, espresso martini evening complete with a dance party surrounded by our dearest friends (thank you Alicia and Matt for being such awesome hosts!) and anticipated a much-planned weekend at Elk Meadows just across from Hood River for the upcoming weekend.
Feet on the ground.
Well kids, it’s been one week since my mom took off on a plane back to Washington and guess what? I am still alive! I am well(ish)! I am eating, drinking, and making merry! As we dropped her off at the airport, it felt like it would be ages before that would be a possibility or that life would fall back into a natural rhythm for quite some time. Although I do feel lethargic, without much motivation to go to the gym or out to do much socializing other than under the comforting roof of my favorite restaurant run by some of my favorite people- I know I have to push through to this next week and get back into action full force, bright eyed and bushy tailed.
Mainstays.
I know I’m not alone in knowing this particular kind of ache. The gnawing feeling that starts as a niggling growl then slowly, surely expands to an almost sickening ache that encases your entire being.
The one and only Sheila Mischke.
Over the past year and a half that I’ve lived in Phnom Penh, living life adjacent to my mom’s who paved our way into The Charming City, I’ve learned a lot about our relationship, our strengths, weaknesses, and more than anything- our deep seeded love for each other.
Meanchey Designs.
Recently I had the pleasure of being in a photoshoot with my mom, Sheila, and working with photographer Sara and stylist Asha for the Cambodian Children’s Fund. The product? Their newest addition to their wide range of projects: Meanchey Designs.
The Family Business.
Recently, I’ve grown to love organized crime films and shows (if you’re not in with Peaky Blinders, do yourself a solid and get on it) just as much as, well, almost everyone- not just because of the gratuitous violence, gritty history, heavy one-liners, suspense, and bevy of men with slicked back hair who pull of suits extremely well but because of the fundamental family aspect of each story.