My sister is turning thirty. For some reason, this makes me feel really old. I’m two years older than she is, yet somehow I feel as though her turning thirty is like my turning thirty a second time. I’ve decided that the five Kübler-Ross stages of grief are the only way I can possibly work through this tragedy in a healthy way and deal with turning thirty again. First, there’s denial. I have a perpetual head shake at this point. “This can’t be happening. I’m in my prime.” Then comes the anger, during which stage I’ll likely make a stern face and give myself wrinkles. “This is awful! Not AGAIN.” Next, I bargain like a retiree during yard sale season: “If I could just, like, sleep through this year and skip ahead to something else…” Depression comes after that, but I’ll be too busy silently weeping during a Lifetime movie marathon to bother with a quote. Finally, acceptance will creep up on me. I’ll stop shaking my head, invest in botox for the wrinkles, take a power nap, and find a silly Rom Com to watch and set things right. Just in time for another birthday!
– Tiffany Blair, LBSPY 34 (May 20-June 3)
HASHTAGWV ART & ENTERTAINMENT Publisher/Editor-in-Chief, Christina Entenmann-Edwards has been a WV resident since September 2008. She was born and raised in Fairfield County, Connecticut, and is no stranger to hard work and the entrepreneurial spirit. In 2006, she graduated from Quinnipiac University (Hamden, Connecticut), Cum Laude, with a B.A. in History. In 2010, she graduated with an M.B.A. from Liberty University (Lynchburg, Virginia). In February 2012, Christina launched HashtagWV as the area’s first full-color, free arts and entertainment tabloid + online platform. Christina completed the Leadership West Virginia class of 2021, which is an innovative program that grows, engages, and mobilizes leaders to ignite a life passion to move West Virginia forward.