Category: The Hard Stuff

What if you already have the tools you need to get through tough times?
Best Girlfriends Ever, Daryn's Blog, Friendship, Overcoming Obstacles, The Hard Stuff

What If You Have All The Tools You Need To Get Through Tough Times?

That was the easiest birthday gift ever. For the woman who has, Well, a lot. And, And, at the same time, Not the life she planned. She planned on spending the rest of her life with her college sweetheart. The one she’d been married to for 30 years. She planned on setting off on a new adventure with him. Empty nest style, as their youngest headed off to college. He planned on getting to know the company secretary. “Finding himself”

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What I really want to hear my late mother say to me.
Daryn's Blog, Family, The Hard Stuff

What I Really Want My Late Mother To Say To Me

My mother has cancer. It has metastasized to her forehead. Her eyebrow, actually. She’s in pain. And she’s pissed. This is all horrifying. Sad. And, interesting. Interesting, because my mother passed away last August. I’m living what you might know, Dear Reader. You, who has said goodbye to someone you love. Someone who is gone, just not really gone. And so, it is, these nights, that my mother shows up in dreams. This happens about once a week. She’s angry.

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Through many years of heartbreak and frustration, journalist Parisa Khosravi, shares in a tedx talk how she helped her son with autism find his voice using rmp therapy.
Family, Overcoming Obstacles, Parenting, The Hard Stuff, Uplifting Stories

How One Incredible Mom Helped Her Son With Autism Find His Voice

This isn’t just a story of one mom who has a son with autism. This one is more personal for me. It’s about my good friend and former CNN colleague, Parisa Khosravi, and her son Payam. I’ll never forget sitting across from Parisa at Houston’s. This is probably 11 years ago. Her young son wasn’t hitting the usual developmental milestones. After extensive testing, they had a diagnosis. This beautiful boy with the longest eyelashes ever was on the autism spectrum.

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How losing love and my beloved DarlaDog has sent me into crazyland.
Animals, Daryn's Blog, Pets, The Hard Stuff

How Losing Love Has Sent Me Into Crazy Land

I’ve become that lady. The crazy one. You probably figured this was coming, Dear Reader. Checking in each week to see if I’ve become her yet. Indeed, I have. The crazy lady who misses her dog. Beyond misses. Most days, I ache. It’s been about two months since DarlaDog passed. I still swear I can hear her collar jingling in the other room. Still catch my breath when I see a few scraps from dinner and have to remind myself,

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How a sweet boy and a truck reminded me the secret to love.
Daryn's Blog, Kindness, Life Lessons Took Me Long Time To Learn, Overcoming Obstacles, The Hard Stuff

How A Sweet Boy And A Truck Reminded Me The Secret To Love

A sweet boy from high school taught me something about love this week. Of course, he is no longer a boy. Now a man. A husband. A father. An incredibly happy one last July as he walked along Promenade des Anglais in Nice, France. Do you remember the evil that happened that night? As the French celebrated Bastille Day, their independence day? A crazed terrorist barreled a truck down that boulevard packed with people. His single mission was to destroy

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Oh, how I will miss these conversations with my dog.
Animals, Daryn's Blog, Pets, The Hard Stuff

The Lies My Dog And I Told Each Other

What can I say? I lied to my dog. Each day for almost 17 years I declared, “You are the smartest! The prettiest! The most clever! Best dog ever.” Well, the day she ate the stuffing out of my neighbor’s antique chair, I might’ve had a few other choice words. Still, I bet that day, Any day, really, She heard me. Smartest. Prettiest. Best. Was it a lie? Indeed, it was. Darla would never win Westminster. She never earned a

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First holidays without my mom.
Daryn's Blog, Family, The Hard Stuff

The First Holidays Without My Mom

In case you were wondering, Yes, that was me. The lady pushing her buggy down the aisle of the grocery store right before Thanksgiving. Tears streaming down her face. That was me. Tears were not the plan. Yukon Golds for mashed potatoes, Elbow macaroni for mac n’cheese. A few other things I had forgotten. That was the plan. I should remember my tears always have their own plan. Make no allowances for public appearances. And so, they picked the day

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This statement about true love will make my English teacher cringe. True love has no past tense.
Chickens, Life Lessons Took Me Long Time To Learn, Love Stories, The Hard Stuff

This Statement About True Love Will Make My English Teacher Cringe

Chickens. This week it was chickens. The backdrop for the life lesson that showed up. That opportunity to be a better human. So, there is this chicken club in town. Every few months I get together with fellow crazies raising chickens in their backyards. Always, a toe dipper who shows up. Someone who is thinking about going clucky. That’s how I encountered a special woman Sunday. She came to learn about chickens. And to teach. She probably doesn’t know that

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Animals, Daryn's Blog, Family, Life Lessons Took Me Long Time To Learn, Parenting, The Hard Stuff

How A Fish Explained The Hardest Part About Parenting To Me

I’m in debt to a fish. The fish, who in 10 seconds, explained my parenting conundrum to me. Keep your expert books, parenting websites. I have clarity now. Thanks to the fish. You see, Dear Reader, my daughter is a senior in high school. We are in the season of looking at colleges. So much has changed since I went 10,000 years ago. These days, the kids put everything they want in a school and a software program spits out

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Daughter's seemingly impossible travel wish helps Valerie Hartman shift to yes from always automatically saying no.
Guest Blog, Life Lessons Took Me Long Time To Learn, Overcoming Obstacles, Parenting, The Hard Stuff

Guest Blogger: The Gift Of Shifting Into Yes

(Note from Daryn: Guest Blogger Valerie Hartman stops into DarynKagan.com to share her big lesson about shifting into yes. Instead of always thinking something isn’t possible, maybe, just maybe it is.) It started in the spring of 2015.   My daughter casually mentioned a conversation she had recently had with her Dad.  She told me that he wanted to take her to Paris on one of their next scheduled trips (spoiler alert-we are divorced-not the most amicable-but have figured out how

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