Tess Takes Her Life Back

Hi, I’m Tess, and I love writing. It’s been a while since I’ve written a blog entry, so here’s to a fresh start. In 2020, I was diagnosed with Bipolar disorder. Navigating that diagnosis has had its share of ups and downs, but I’m now stable on my medications, and this October will mark four years since my last psychiatric hospitalization. I’ll share more of that story another time. From my Bipolar journey came an unexpected love: running. For a few years, I trained heavily and even ran my first half marathon—something I never thought I’d do. Honestly, I still can’t believe I did it. But over time, shin splints became a recurring issue. I’d stop, heal, start again, and repeat. Eventually, I took a longer break. During that break, I regained some of the weight I had lost, and running didn’t feel as exciting. The comparison game with other runners crept in, and I felt like my weight was holding me back physically and mentally. I also realized my family needed more of me. This...

Towards the end of June, my friend posted on Facebook that she had taken in a 5-week-old kitten. She couldn’t keep her long-term and was looking for someone to give the tiny furball a forever home. We already had two cats and two guinea pigs, but my heart ached for this little kitten. After talking it over with Michael, we agreed—our family had room for one more. That’s when I learned her backstory. Zelda had been found outside of Lethbridge by a couple and handed over to the RCMP. The RCMP then reached out to my friend in hopes of giving her a second chance at life. When she was rescued, one of her eyes was mostly glued shut, she was congested, and she needed to be syringe-fed before slowly transitioning to soft food. No other kittens were found nearby—likely her mom had died or abandoned her. At first, my friend called her Vida —Spanish for “life.” It was a fitting name, but we wanted something that felt uniquely hers. Michael suggested Gandalf the Grey (which made me smile), but I ...

I used to be an avid bookworm as a child and well into my teen years. But somewhere in college, my love for reading fizzled out. Books became something I had to read for classes, not something I picked up for fun. I briefly rekindled that spark when I commuted to work as a health care aide and borrowed audiobooks from the library. But after that, life took over—kids happened, and reading simply fell off my radar. Even when I did think about it, I found it hard to focus long enough to really get into a book. I’d often see my husband reading before bed, and more than once he suggested I give it another try. I always brushed it off. Then, at the end of 2023, I decided to try my first digital audiobook—and it just took off from there. By 2024, I was truly hooked. I ended the year having read 48 books—something I never imagined I could do.  This year, in 2025, I set an even bigger goal: 100 books. So far, I’ve finished 68. There have been some slower months, but I’...