HeyJaredKristen Downs
Kristen Downs writes about Adventures in Motherhood, midlife, travel, & memoir. Candid, no-holds-barred stories from a former CIA officer turned mom of four. My work has appeared in Grown and Flown, Scary Mommy, PDX Parent, & Expressing Motherhood.
- Indexed issues, last 90 days
- 4
- Latest publication
- Sep 30, 2026
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- Earliest in this view
- Aug 19, 2026
Latest issues
Divine Intervention (opens the original)
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It was divine intervention. That’s what I called it that night when I couldn’t contain the tears streaming from my eyes as I focused on my late brother’s two children seated at the opposite end of the table. It was last August, and my brother’s kids, ages 17 and 19, were surrounded by my four children, and I’m sure none of them knew what to make of the scene. A family reunion of sorts for the first time in nearly two years.“I’m the sensitive one,” I said, glossing over my behavior before my moth
Bottom’s Up Baby. Cheers! (opens the original)
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The anticipation has been killing me. My husband’s been oversharing all summer.First, the appointment was scheduled in June. Then it was abruptly moved to August. Then, just this week, I spotted it on the wall calendar. As if he’d forget! It’s been the subject of dinner table conversations all month.The dreaded colonoscopy.<a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!zcqg!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.a
It Was Their Time (opens the original)
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The anniversary of my late father’s death hit me differently this year. I credit Ali and a sound bath in India two years ago for rewriting the grief narrative in my head that played on repeat year after year. ******I spotted the shop’s wooden sign: Alibaba Arts, tucked just around the corner from our hotel, and found myself barefoot, stepping into a large metal bowl as if this were the most natural thing a 51-year-old mother of four could do halfway around the world with a total stranger.I
Freedom Tastes Like Coors Banquet (opens the original)
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It happened, and I couldn’t stop it. That sinking feeling that drops your heart into your stomach. I knew it was coming, and I thought I was better prepared this time. C’mon, he’s kid number four, and I should be rejoicing. This time he didn’t screw up. He passed with better scores than any of the other five of us. Or at least that’s what he claimed, and I believed him. For once.He drives safer than any of my other three kids, one of whom landed a $200 speeding ticket in March. Natural consequen
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