This weekend presents a special day, celebrating Mom. A time to celebrate your mom, grandmother, motherhood of your own, or recognizing those “like a mom” to you. This can also be a time of reflection and sadness for those who have lost mothers, grandmothers, or children of their own. A time to appreciate what those relationships were and what they meant to you.

This time last year, I was away from my children, Paige and Joshua and didn’t realize how much it actually affected me, despite enjoying time with my husband, Michael. This year, I am delighted to have Paige and Joshua to spend the day with, and for that, I am grateful.

On another note, I recently had the privilege of carving out planning time (alone and with the D by denise team) about my vision for the remainder of this year, the editorial content to support it, and other exciting opportunities that were recently presented in relation to that vision. It’s been fun for me to be on “the other side of the strategy table”, putting some of my own strategic business coaching to work on the D by denise lifestyle brand. We have a bit more to work through. Because of that, it’s back to the table for me to focus on the real, raw, and in many cases, vulnerable sharing as a modern middle-aged professional woman.

For that reason, I will be taking the remainder of May to write, research, and find my words to articulate experiences and thoughts on topics that are real to me, some recent and some from the past, but all that have a great deal of emotion. Some stem from my professional world as a female executive and entrepreneur, and some are part of just being a woman and the drama that can sometimes surround us when we least expect it. All are part of my story, and all resemble experiences of many other modern, middle-aged professional women. I look forward to reconnecting with you with my next post in early June.

In the meantime… just as I concluded my ode to Mother’s Day with Becoming a Mom: A Privilege this time last year, whether you’re a mom or are influencing the life of a child through loved ones or your sisterhood, I send a cheers to all of you for a Happy Mother’s Day! xo

Photos: Kderk Photography, Casey Nolin Photography, and Joshua Zaporzan

D by denise Journal is published bi-weekly. To subscribe and receive directly to your inbox click here.