Jacqueline Dooley
1 min readMay 28, 2023

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Timna, this is such an incredibly important post. I think of you and Orli a lot. My younger daughter is 19 now and she really struggled with her first semester at college. We lost Ana six years ago when Emily was not quite 13. This trauma did permanent damage to Emily and her outlook on life. She needed a break from the hamster wheel you describe, but what to do? She kept going. We all kept going. But...for whatever reason, she decided not to go back to college next year. She increased her hours at work. Right now, in this moment, not thinking about some nebulous future success is what she needs. I feel bad about this, in all honesty - as I see smiling graduates and happy (complete) families on social media. I know you get it. The pressure of capital "S" success hangs over all of us. Thank you for writing this and, as ever, I'm so very sorry for the loss of your Orli.

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Jacqueline Dooley
Jacqueline Dooley

Written by Jacqueline Dooley

I'm whatever the opposite of a data scientist is. Essayist. Content writer. Bereaved parent. Mediocre artist. Lover of birds, mushrooms, tiny dogs, and nature.

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