The Messy Middle: When Life Reminds You to Be Prepared

Some lessons don’t come from books ~ they come from the moments that catch us off guard.

This week has been one of those reminders that life doesn’t wait until we feel ready.

The paperback version of Modo and Jiblet: The Floating Leaf comes out tomorrow, and I should probably be thinking only about that ~ the excitement of holding the book in my hands, the feeling of finishing something I worked so hard on, and the fun of starting the next story.

(🐿️ Her book is sitting behind the curtain, fully dressed, waiting for the stage lights.
On Tuesday morning, the curtain opens ~ and then you can grab all the copies you want.
Squirrels love a dramatic entrance.)

And I am excited.

But life has a way of putting big moments right next to hard ones.

Recently, our family experienced the loss of someone who meant a lot to many people.

I won’t go into details because every family has its own story, and those stories deserve privacy.

But being close to the situation has been a strong reminder of something most of us don’t like to think about until we have to.

What happens after someone is gone.

Not just the sadness.
Not just the memories.
But the decisions.
The paperwork.
The belongings.
The questions nobody wants to answer.

Who handles what?
Who decides?
Who gets which things?
Who is supposed to be in charge?

When everything is written down and planned ahead, those moments are still hard…
but they don’t turn into confusion.

When nothing is clear, even good people can end up stressed, hurt, or overwhelmed just trying to do what they think is right.

It made me very thankful for something my husband and I decided to do a while back ~ we set up a trust so that when our time comes, the kids and grandkids won’t have to guess what we wanted.

They won’t have to argue.
They won’t have to wonder.
Everything will already be decided, not because we expect the worst, but because we want to make things easier for the people we love.

Planning ahead isn’t morbid.
It’s kindness in advance.

Not every family situation is simple, and that’s something I know firsthand.

Some families get along easily, and some don’t.
Some have old hurts, some have distance, and some have situations where you already know that if things aren’t planned out clearly, it could turn into confusion, stress, or even conflict.

Because of that, I’ve learned that having things in order isn’t just about paperwork ~ it’s about protecting the people you love from being put in the middle of something they never wanted to deal with.

When relationships are complicated, clear plans matter even more.

They take away the guessing, the arguing, and the chance for things to go in directions no one intended.

None of us like to think about those possibilities, but pretending they won’t happen doesn’t make them disappear.

Being prepared isn’t negative ~ it’s one of the most caring things you can do for your family, especially when you know life isn’t always as simple as we wish it could be.

Another thing I’ve been reminded of this week is how emotional times can make everything feel heavier.

Even small decisions can turn into big ones, and even strong families can feel the pressure when everyone is tired, grieving, or unsure what to do next.

Watching all of this from the side has made me even more sure of something I already believed;
the best gift we can leave our family isn’t just memories.

It’s clarity.
It’s knowing our wishes.
It’s having things in order.
It’s making sure the people we love don’t have to figure everything out while they’re already hurting.

Life doesn’t stop while these things are happening, though.

In between all of it, I’ve started working on the illustrations for the next Modo and Jiblet story, the one I hinted at in the back of The Floating Leaf.

Sitting with my iPad, sketching leaves and little forest creatures, has been a quiet reminder that even when life feels messy, it keeps moving forward.

And maybe that’s the real lesson this week.

We don’t get perfect timing.
We don’t get everything in neat chapters.
We get excitement and sadness, progress and frustration, hope and stress ~ sometimes all in the same few days.

That’s life.
That’s the part nobody really prepares you for.
That’s the messy middle.

Not perfect.
Not finished.
Still meaningful.

(🐿️ The messy middle is also where squirrels keep rearranging the plot. They can’t help themselves.)