A Little March Madness

March… I love everything about it. It probably doesn’t hurt that it is my birthday month too.  Emails full of birthday discounts, the fresh spring air, the chance that you might have a 70-degree day or you might have snow.  And my favorite color, green, seems to be highlighted everywhere all month long. 

Something about the month gives me a natural pause point—a little seasonal reset mixed with nostalgia, gratitude, and a bit of adventure.  

I don’t remember getting a spring break growing up at least not a whole week. Apparently in many schools in Missouri they don’t get a full week,  just a few days. And that is exactly what I decided to do this year: take a few days for myself, and more importantly, not when everyone else was doing it. It was a chance for me to reset, do some things I love and find a little peace and focus in a world that sometimes feels full of chaos and heartbreak.

I started the week with some of my favorite girls being our silly selves — doing a little shopping, drinking coffee, and of course eating good food. Then I spent some time at home trying to catch up on chores… let’s call it a little spring cleaning.  

By Wednesday, I had finished up a few more things and decided it was time for a little adventure. Kansas City bound, I headed to the MIAA basketball tournament. I have connections with many of the schools who played in the tournament. I am a Pitt State alum. My son goes to Washburn (who won, by the way). I taught at Missouri Southern for a short time, and at one point I was actually supposed to go to Missouri Western for college.

That got me thinking about how things sometimes fall into place.

I was all set to go to Missouri Western. I’m not really sure what drew me there except that it was close to home. My mom took me down for a campus visit, and we sat in the Psychology department waiting to meet with someone who was supposed to share information and show me around campus.  But it didn’t happen.  For some reason, no one was there to meet with me. I remember feeling disappointed and unsure what to do next.

Then one of my aunts who lived in Pittsburg suggested I come down and take a look at Pitt State.  It was love at first sight.  I met with some great people on campus, later auditioned for a choir scholarship, and the rest is history.

It’s funny when I think about it now, because my son Kole had a similar experience. As long as I can remember, he has wanted to go into law enforcement. He had his eyes set on Missouri Southern, and we even scheduled his campus visit in March.  Then one evening, the world started to shut down.  COVID hit, everything stopped, and he never made it to that campus visit. Life changed quickly, and he eventually decided to attend Washburn instead. We couldn’t be prouder of that decision.

Someday, I imagine we will both share stories about meeting our lifelong partners in college… at the schools we weren’t originally supposed to attend.  It’s like life sometimes takes an unexpected bounce, but somehow the ball still ends up exactly where it’s supposed to. 

So that’s what March has brought me so far — a reset, some adventures, and a few moments spent reminiscing about how I got where I am today.

And if you love basketball and want to watch great competition, spend a little less money, and be around a few thousand fewer people than a typical Division I March Madness game, the MIAA tournament is definitely worth checking out.

One more thing checked off my 2026 bucket list.