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THE DEEP END
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Life beneath the Surface of an Intuitive Empath


How to Dish up a Dream Life
Welp, here I am two weeks after divulging my latest thrill. Lying in bed the other night, I thought, guess it’s not one of those...

Katie Wilkes
Aug 16, 20235 min read


A Secret (Language) Revealed
What I am about to share may freak you out. It may sound weird or over the top or cause you to roll your eyes or maybe even close out of...

Katie Wilkes
Jul 31, 20235 min read


The Place Where it Stings
I learned enough the first time to understand that getting stung doesn’t feel good. There I was, barely under three feet tall, allured by...

Katie Wilkes
Jul 13, 20235 min read


Can I get a Witness?
Humans crawling around on all fours. Sticking our arms out left and right, snapping our tongues tasting the air. Craning our necks,...

Katie Wilkes
Jun 25, 20234 min read


Top 5 Things to Never Say to a Senior Pet Parent
A few months into lockdown, I was one of a bazillion people feeling not so warm and fuzzy. “There’s so much I wanna say to people’s...

Katie Wilkes
Jun 13, 20235 min read


A Magnet for Emergencies: How I Dodged a Big One
When I travel, it often feels like emergencies follow me. A tsunami warning post-touchdown in Southern California. A seizure behind me in...

Katie Wilkes
May 31, 20235 min read


Pause of the Paws: 4 Advantages of a Pup-free Year
It was a rebellious act. But that’s one upside of living solo: no one sees what you do or say or how you act unless you want them to. (Or...

Katie Wilkes
May 15, 20234 min read


Hello from the Other Side
I’ve spent a lot of time listening this past year. Listening on my walks for the sudden babbling fountain in the shape of a turtle....

Katie Wilkes
Apr 30, 20236 min read


The Show-Stopping Sign that Altered my Grief
Turns out, I can be a terrible predictor. Anticipating grief ahead of the actual loss, I was convinced it would take me years to fully...

Katie Wilkes
Apr 15, 20238 min read


Tick Tock, Special Delivery
Elephants, I learned this week, are pregnant for 22 months – longer than any other mammal. And listen to this: mama sea turtles navigate...

Katie Wilkes
Mar 24, 20234 min read


The Underbelly
Some folks in DC couldn’t be more annoyed by the drive to Baltimore. But I’ve come to love my hour-long journeys to turtle rescue days at...

Katie Wilkes
Mar 10, 20234 min read


The Greatest Rejection I Ever Received
“Are you deploying to ____?” Some form of this question will pop up in conversation when a massive, heartbreaking crisis hits the...

Katie Wilkes
Feb 19, 20235 min read


One of These Things is Not Like the Other
I drew it on a whim, quick strokes just for fun. Four years later, it’s still there: a little cartoon drawing of Ferg on my dry erase...

Katie Wilkes
Feb 8, 20234 min read


Caught off Guard
There’s a certain strange confirmation in the early days, weeks and months of an all-consuming grief period. The fog, the crushing, it...

Katie Wilkes
Jan 18, 20234 min read


Rescued: Wading for You
Fall 2011: Boxes. The end of one chapter, the start of another. Precious cargo. I drop a stack of leaning ones when, out of the corner of...

Katie Wilkes
Jan 5, 20235 min read


Don't Touch That Otter!
“Back. away. from. that. OTTER!” the woman shouts through a bullhorn from a tower. Her blood must be rushing to her cheeks, we can feel...

Katie Wilkes
Dec 15, 20223 min read


The Donkey Mom
He watches me approach with coffee mug in hand, leftover hay sticking to his ears after breakfast. Warm air funnels from his nose to the...

Katie Wilkes
Nov 27, 20224 min read


Backpacks and Blinders
All the other kids hand in their homework. But I stay back. My cheeks flush and the bottom drops out of my belly. My assignment has...

Katie Wilkes
Nov 6, 20224 min read


Proof of Life: When Comedy Comes to Town
The crunching gravel beneath my sneakers halts. I’ve caused quite a shock: she’s frozen, every hair on her body stands erect. Eyes locked...

Katie Wilkes
Oct 25, 20224 min read


Honeymoon for One: Saying Yes to Flippered Warrior Wisdom
Surely, it’s gone by now, I thought, reading the comments beneath the Instagram post. There I was overlooking the inky skyline from my...

Katie Wilkes
Oct 14, 20224 min read
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