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Lauren Katz

@ljarts

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Professional Art Enthusiast 🖼️
Wisconsin Badger Alumna 🦡
Ev’s mama 🥰
IVF warrior 💪🏻
“Keep on dancing til the world ends” 💃

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Nothing solidifies the expression “the days are long but the years are short” like watching my COVID baby get on the bus for his first day of kindergarten.

Some say time is a thief but I think it’s a gift. Evan, watching you grow up is the greatest joy - even if it breaks my heart a little and turned me into a puddle this morning. We know that you walked into your classroom full of excitement and curiosity.

Hope everyone had an amazing first day! by @ljarts

Summer vibes in Cape Cod. Baseball, fireworks, beach time, tennis, kids museum, construction trucks, and quality time with family ❤️ by @ljarts

Happiest birthday wishes to our sweet sweet boy. You light up our lives and you light up any dance floor you come across.

You have the soul of a rabbi, the mind of an engineer, and the body of a crazy squirmy 5 year old boy with endless energy.

My wish for you this year is that you continue to be endlessly curious. That you enter kindergarten with an open mind ready to be a sponge and soak up all the learning and new experiences presented to you.

You’re our magical miracle and we celebrate you today and all the days xox by @ljarts

I was 19 when my dad died, and today marks 19 years without him.

I always knew this day would come, but I hate thinking about the imbalance that grows as the years go on. As someone who has now been grieving for half of their life, I thought I’d share a few things I’ve learned in the hope that they might help someone else. There was so little that brought me comfort 19 years ago. I wish I could say these things to my younger self, and I hope these words land with someone somewhere on their own grief journey.

You go forward, but you don’t move on.

Asking for help isn’t giving up; it’s refusing to give up.

When people first meet you, they don’t know the grief you carry. Assume they carry grief too.

Only love and tattoos are permanent, so get the tattoo if it’s about love. #kesem

Even though you feel unmoored, you will find ways to feel grounded again.

Touch grass. Look at old trees. Study the stars at night.

Always pack tissues for a wedding—you will cry.

Songs that once made you cry in the early years of grief will eventually make you smile.

There will be times you feel lonely, but know that you are not alone.

It may feel like the world is happening to you, but remember that you are happening to the world. Take action.

And if I could somehow hold the 19-year-old me, or even the 30-year-old me, I’d tell her this:

One day, you will have a little boy who carries the kindness and empathy you thought died when Dad died.

But energy cannot be created or destroyed. It is transferred.

And the love you thought was gone lives on. by @ljarts

You started at @templebethelnw ECC as an Explorer in 2022 and now you’ve graduated pre-k … where has the time gone? We are so immensely proud of the kid you’ve become! This community means the world to us and we can’t thank the teachers, temple staff, and fellow parents enough for making this the best 4 years! @davezkatz we have a kindergartener on our hands 🤪🥹❤️ by @ljarts

Happiest birthday wishes to my best friend! @davezkatz I’m so grateful you were born and that you came into my life 15 years ago. Heres to kicking off a new decade and wishing you many more decades of tennis, tickle fights, dancing, and time together. I love doing life with you. 🥳❤️🥳 by @ljarts

Highlights from Ev’s first trip to Canada to dominate the dance floor and celebrate his cousins Eliana and Miles! by @ljarts

Really dug our time in Miami and missing the warm sunshine. Goodbye 2025 - bring it on 2026! by @ljarts

When you were 4 months old I would daydream about what you’d be like at 4 years old. I’d try to picture your face, hear your voice, and wonder what you’d be interested in. Here we are - you’re 4 and you are so much more remarkable than I imagined. Don’t be offended, but I’m not super nostalgic about the 4 month old phase, but I’m finding myself pre-nostalgic about this moment we are in now. I’m so excited for what this new year has in store for you - a new summer camp, your last year at Beth El preschool, fun trips, new truck obsessions…

My wish for you as you start your 4th year is that you remain curious and continue to look at the world with awe and wonder. Keep asking us questions. Keep pointing out big trucks on the road. Keep making up silly games and building obstacle courses in our living room. Keep being kind and sensitive. Your smile lights up a room and your spirit lights up our lives. by @ljarts

Celebrating (almost) 11 years of marriage and (almost) 4 years of being parents. There’s no one else I’d rather do life with than you @davezkatz by @ljarts

Happy Father’s Day @davezkatz - thank you for being the best dad and role model for Evan. Thank you for showing him how to be kind and curious. Thank you for making him feel safe and loved. Thank you for being the best husband and for showing Evan what love and partnership looks like. We are so lucky to have you xox by @ljarts

Evan, to know you is to love you. Being your mom is the greatest joy of my life. You keep me grounded, silly, and always planning 5 steps ahead. You will always be my baby boy no matter how big you get. 💙

Dave, thanks for being by my side on this wild parenting adventure. ❤️ by @ljarts