It’s been a while since I have blogged and it truly has been an extremely busy but positive quarter (sorry, this is how I think about time since business is a big part of my life). I’ve had some incredible challenges, but also incredible wins, including the realization of a business initiative celebrating women that may have been the pinnacle of my career. I don’t even truly know how to summarize the way providing a women-focused event to women who REALLY needed it and expressed their joy and gratefulness in its existence to me made me feel.

One of the aspects of my career that is missing is a focus on philanthropy, and I felt that this event had a certain amount of philanthropy to its existence. It also increased my industry street cred way more than I ever expected, causing me to see my future and my personal impact in a different way. This was a completely unexpected result, but it energized me, and is motivating me to explore a new platform, one a never expected. I’m sure this doesn’t even make sense to you, dear reader (which is part of the reason I haven’t blogged about it until now), but in an effort to chronicle this, I have to mention it as it was a (the?) highlight of my career.

My boys are also doing pretty well. J has successfully gotten off of the venlafaxine and is no longer on an antidepressant of any kind right now. He has started a new job and seems to be in a pretty good headspace. He’s not as volatile, thank goodness, and I am hopeful he is learning some things about what he wants his path to be in life. His current job, he has assured me, is not going to last, but he’s learning.

S is trying to keep his grades up. Math is a problem, but he’s working on it better than he did in the beginning. Not sure he is going to pass math this semester (in fact, it would be a miracle if he did), but we’ll have to cross that bridge soon in regard to having enough math credits to graduate. He’s doing pretty well in his other classes and he is pretty happy … as happy as a teenager can be.

Speaking of S, he and I went on our annual holiday weekend to Chicago. It’s something my mom did with me when I was a teenager, too. We spend the weekend in a hotel and go shopping, see a show, eat out, spend time together. It is so much fun (J is a homebody and isn’t interested in going) and we both really enjoy it.

The plan this past weekend was to go to church at Old St. Pats in Chicago. Although the Catholic church and I are not on speaking terms (as you know if you have read my former posts), Old St. Pats in Chicago is different. If you are so inclined and haven’t had the chance, they stream mass every weekend. They do things differently. Their music is beautiful. The homilies are impactful and inclusive and spiritually helpful. They literally give you faith that all is not lost, which is why I like to bring my son. However, he’s 17 and didn’t want to wake up in time for mass, so instead of fighting and forcing, I didn’t push it. I was disappointed, and so was he, but the time had passed. We checked out of the hotel and decided to stop at The Cheesecake Factory restaurant in Oak Brook on the way home for a late lunch (it’s a family favorite).

Listen, I’ve heard a lot of hate for The Cheesecake Factory, but I challenge you to find a restaurant that is crowded with more families and friends, young and old, than this restaurant. We walked in at 1:30 pm on Sunday and the place is packed with families, kids, elderly, black, white, Hispanic, Asian, gay, straight, couples, friends, you name it. I think it is because with the pages-long menu and endless delicious bread, you literally can’t go wrong. Everyone has something to make them happy at The Cheesecake Factory, and this brings out the best in people when they go somewhere they know they will have a chance to be happy with the ones they love.

As we were waiting (because you always will during the weekend at The CF), I got tapped on the shoulder and a mom asked if I would mind taking a picture of her and her family, which included a little girl and a teenager. It wasn’t a birthday or anything … it was a special moment because her family was together and happy. Of course I did.

The other thing about the CF is you cannot avoid other people. You can’t. It’s impossible. You sit so close together and are so grateful for a seat, you just deal with it (especially if you are an introvert like me). When we finally sat, there was a couple next to us who started talking to us, just chatting, being kind and conversing. They were older. She worked in a high school and complimented S when he got up to use the restroom about how sweet he was. They prayed over their meal. The waiter accidentally spilled sauce on her shirt and she was a little upset (not outwardly, just concerned) because she had to go back to church after lunch. Another waiter tracked down a Tide pen to help her and applied it to her sweater. The two men next to us were brothers and one couldn’t wait to take his brother who was visiting to the CF because they treated him like family and he considered himself a VIP. The waiter knew him and they had a good laugh and a tease about it. When the couple on our other side left, they said “God bless you” and “take care” and “it was nice meeting you.”

Guys, I don’t know how to say it, but we went to church at The Cheesecake Factory. I left with my cup filled. I felt joyful and positive and energized and ready for the week … to do better, to be better, to be open, to be the kind of person who belongs at a late Sunday lunch at The Cheesecake Factory. To be the best version of myself that I can be; open, caring, kind, helpful, excited in small wins and opportunities … and to have dessert. And to tip generously. And to be so thankful for good people and the human community that can be found outside of church and in your workplaces and homes and libraries and grocery stores and, almost always, in The Cheesecake Factory on a Sunday afternoon.