The boxcutter blade tore through the packing tape, revealing the eclectic mix of candlesticks, picture frames and hardcover books inside the ragged cardboard. The box had broken down from the long journey, the bumps in the road sagging its corners. But the contents arrived intact, as had we. Exhausted from weeks of packing and planning, we had reached our destination, our new home.

We are the Harrington family. Welcome to Life and Whim.

Approaching 40, Heather and I (finally) realized that we faced a simple choice: either we make life happen, of we let life happen. You see, life became complicated. Three small kids, a demanding business, keeping up with friends and family – nothing out of the ordinary, just the challenges of everyday life. But the everyday became every day.

Wake up, get the crew dressed and fed, race to school drop-off, then into the office. Work like crazy, never get ahead. Scamper home. Cook dinner with spatula in one hand, baby in the other. Baths, pajamas, books and bedtime. Clean up the mess. Collapse on the couch. Click on the TV. Day after day. Routine took hold and weeks, months and years quickly passed, almost indistinguishably.

“Is this our life?”

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It was the first snowfall of the season, not a massive amount but enough to make it tough for the plow trucks to keep up. And it was falling during morning rush hour, such as it is in Traverse City.

Heather finished loading our three girls into the car – click!, click!, click! – and headed for school drop-off. Our five year old Madison’s school is at the top of a hill and there is a single road of entry – Hill Street – to the school’s parking lot. Heather took our usual route that morning, turning carefully onto Hill at a point halfway up the hill.

Stuck.

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