Jessica Null Vealitzek's Blog

What I’ve learned after six years in office “This is who we are” — and it’s not. We are a lot of things, but we did not overwhelmingly elect a felon who doesn’t know or care about good governance. He was elected by apathy and frustration and, yes, ignorance of policies and the spread of […]

There was a magical moment the other day when my son smiled up at me with bright eyes, complete trust, and unfettered happiness. I’d do anything and everything to defend that smile. I am one of the many women who ran for local office in 2018. I ran because I am a mother. The best […]

“Words are all we got.” Dean Baquet, December 8 Remember when, “Don’t let the terrorists win,” was the refrain of the moment and we were urged to get out and go shopping after 9/11? Most people, of course, knew it was about more than shopping — that we didn’t need to simply resume our daily habits; we needed […]

A few years ago, I told my friend, Melanie, who is black, about a black family, all adults, I’d encountered on a plane. The family shouted in glee as the plane took off. I asked the father if this was their first time flying and he said no, they just loved it. I commented to […]

Originally posted on True STORIES.:
For Mother’s Day, an early Monday Morning Meeting: My mom… Was born and raised on the northwest side of Chicago and attended Catholic school there. (She will forever say the word “nun” with some disdain.) Lost her mother to pancreatic cancer when she was a freshman in college; afterward, she…

Eight years ago, I read an essay by Gloria Steinem urging young women to vote for Hillary Clinton. At the time, young people overwhelmingly supported Barack Obama. Steinem wrote something along the lines of: If young women knew better, they’d vote for Hillary. If they’d been around forty years ago and really understood the women’s […]

Big change usually hits me like water-based stain on hard pine. (Can you tell I’m in the midst of a major home renovation?) Half of it doesn’t sink in until hours later. In my case, months. So it still hasn’t fully sunk in that we have this whole new life thirty minutes from our old […]

I thought I’d re-introduce myself, it’s been so long. There’s lots to write about–and I did write about it over the summer, then my computer promptly lost the draft. I’ve been so busy chopping buckthorn, destroying wasp nests, and getting the algae out of our pool–plus taking notes on a new novel–that I haven’t been […]

I’ve found myself repeatedly recommending the following things this year: (Asterisk: I’m not a trendsetter, but if you are an average person of an average age with average expectations who usually comes around to things slightly late, you might like these.) 1. Burt’s Bees Very Volumizing Pomegranate Shampoo. This is the only thickening shampoo that has […]

It’s spring and that means three things: spring is in the air, days are longer, and houses are popping up for sale all over the place. My house is one of them and I’ve discovered a few things that might help you if you’re about to be in the same boat: You don’t need a […]