It amazes me how many times Sheri has intersected with my life to set me straight. There was that time waiting in line for official copies of my kids’ birth certificates, because I had totally screwed up our passport renewal appointment and had to start over. Oh, I was hot. While standing there and scrolling through my phone I landed on an old voicemail message from her, and my heart skipped a beat.

I hit play and cupped the phone to my ear. And then listened to the most glorious sound ever in life, a full minute of Sheri laughing in my ear, unable to catch her breath. Finally she choked out between giggles, “You just sound . . . so . . . serious.”  She was referring to my outgoing message, which was so damn serious it was ridiculous. So standing in line I changed it to something silly, because who the hell did I think I was, anyway?

Then I channeled Patti LaBelle and got a new attitude. It ain’t that complicated: Just choose to be happy, man.