only with laughter can you win

I found this in my Christmas keepsakes as I was decorating a few weeks ago. I’m not sure what year (in surprisingly recent history) the Reid Family got this note from Santa, whose handwriting remarkably resembled my mom’s, but I do hope we learned our lesson that year. 😄🍪💚❤

Merry merry, y'all! May the light of Christmas fill you with warmth and joy all year long.
#fereidnavidad #merrychristmasfrommermer #lifeisbetterwithasouthpaw
https://www.instagram.com/p/CX6em9IlZsvhA8H8LYpqSrSW-HwhU61TN7plqE0/?utm_medium=tumblr

Wishing a VERY happy birthday to my Daddy-o today. He’s the one who has always encouraged me to reflect on the meaning of existence and the existence of meaning. He has shown me how to love, how to serve, and how to lead. I wouldn’t be where I am today without him. It was a bonkers year in so many ways, but I will be eternally grateful for the special time we spent together. And with Ma, too, because they’re hardly ever very far apart. Happy 68, Popsy! #lifeisbetterwithasouthpaw (at Parque nacional Volcán Poás) https://www.instagram.com/p/CX4750QtbB_9u8_VwNuSyMMOo4E0TiiuAnFVDU0/?utm_medium=tumblr

Winter solstice 2021. A reminder that there is light after darkness. (at 77018)
https://www.instagram.com/p/CXw48cmli1nCSTVKY5gJ2xpSlm-gBBYFNEVG0k0/?utm_medium=tumblr

Happy Nawlidays, y'all. 🙈@overheardbumble
#twinshiptownship #maybeilldiealone (at Houston, Texas)
https://www.instagram.com/p/CXklAHTMJOltCNESrjkVkQIrJzKprg7Vxm7dHg0/?utm_medium=tumblr

One week down and another one to go, today @susannafontenot, @bfbf928, and their little turkeys are finally making their way here. Everyone is very excited!! #gobblegobblegiggles (at Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica)
https://www.instagram.com/p/CWlvTPSlNFg6ZrV7d3QaNCfTrpaQPa7T0I8gdM0/?utm_medium=tumblr

Hola, Costa Rica. It’s been less than eight hours, and I already love it here. ❣ #travelwithmermer #gobblegobblegiggles (at Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica)
https://www.instagram.com/p/CWPZ_9TtUJcgpR37GGgngCqnycFh3edFxUQOSc0/?utm_medium=tumblr

I did a big thing this week! After three years in Houston, I finally found a place to call my own. In the last 11 years alone, I lived at nearly a dozen addresses. (12 on the nose if you count the summer in 2014 when #ididquitmyjobandmovetothefarm and also that summer after grad school when I lived with my parents.)

Today, when so much of the world is in chaos and millions of people around the globe are fleeing their homes because of civil war, gender based violence, climate change, regime overthrow, and countless other reasons, the privilege of a safe place to spend my days and nights is not lost on me. I am overflowing with gratitude and hope to be a light on others’ paths in the coming months and years. #merinboomtown #openheartsopendoorsopenminds (at Houston, Texas)
https://www.instagram.com/p/CTI9wtjtn26i0FhLbbN18yfVAmL8oK2UNCDlJQ0/?utm_medium=tumblr

Apparently it’s International Left Handers Day! I know I love or have loved lots of southpaws (e.g., @barackobama, RBG, my maternal grandma), but today it feels like the right time to honor Ma and Pa. What a neat club we’re lucky to be a part of! If all goes according to plan, at least one of my three nephews will also be a leftie… 😁 Because #lifeisbetterwithasouthpaw 💖
https://www.instagram.com/p/CSibo0BN66NYnkh_nid-n7O-v5Pbq7DOeokuJY0/?utm_medium=tumblr

True peace is not merely the absence of tension; it is the presence of justice. -Martin Luther King, Jr.

#reidfamabamavacay part two: a visit to The Legacy Museum and other civil rights memorials to learn about and unpack this nation’s historically (and presently) racist systems. “Because justice is a constant struggle.” (at The National Memorial for Peace and Justice)
https://www.instagram.com/p/CQmtQdvlzMOQg-qq-XY6qd6pZsK4p_4bU7dpkw0/?utm_medium=tumblr

From west to east and back again: PA in five days and 9 photos. It was a long weekend full of love, laughter, friendship, and nature. And cicadas!!! 🔊🦗🎊 #threecheersforvaccinations #fordiedaysandfordienightsforever (at Mount Washington)
https://www.instagram.com/p/CQH6Q0blT-ND4ztDsI8TZ1OhT71qCB9a5gzzkE0/?utm_medium=tumblr