✏️
The year before Jason died, we were working on a new business together. A dream, really.

He was speaking for companies and corporations.
He was working on writing a book to sell.
I wanted to create online courses that supported our message.
I taught kindergarten and fourth grade.
I have a Master’s in Education.
And I love writing curriculum.

We had a plan to build something together. Create something that might help people.
And we were going for it.

We knew we wanted to learn how to market ourselves online.
We bought a program to teach us.
And we hired a mentor named Courtney.

We learned about Facebook ads and social media posts. We learned about pixels and email sequences.

Jason handled the technology.
I was in charge of writing the copy. The words.

Courtney taught me how to tell a story in an email or an ad. How to write in small phrases and paint a picture with emotion.
We had one particular zoom session with her where we had gone over the sales emails I had written.
Courtney had fixed them. Tweaked them. Edited them.
Jason was sitting to my right at the kitchen counter.

The call finished and I was going through the edits and changes I needed to make to the emails.
Jason called my name and I looked up as he said, “You’re really good at this.”
He said it confidently but maybe with a little surprise, too. Surprise to find out something new about me after being married for almost 30 years.

I was surprised, too.
Am I? Am I really good at this?
What if he’s right? I wondered.

That punchy, poetic style of writing that I learned for Facebook ad copy became my home.
It’s how I wrote our book.
It’s how I write now, on social media.
I learned a new talent at age 48 - because of those Facebook ads, I am a writer.

I think a lot about Jason sitting at the counter.
Looking at me.
Telling me a few months before he died, “You’re really good at this.”
I think that message was meant for more than just that moment.

I have his words come up as a reminder on my phone each week.
So I remember that I can be good at something new.
I can keep creating our dream.
I can still surprise both of us.
Even at this age.✊🏻💙