We promised some surprises in the new year, and here’s a trio.
As you may know, a couple of our writers decided to step back from their Mayhem blogging, and Karla Lester graciously stepped in. Last week, we capped the year off with a 5 Women Mayhem podcast (https://bit.ly/3NehtpH), that we will try to add in every so often. And as we start 2026, we have commissioned three next-generation writers, beloved daughters and a beloved niece, who you will hear from in January, February and March, and through the year, come what mayhem.
We’re pretty excited about this. So let us introduce them.
Elizabeth Flater -- JoAnne Young’s daughter
I could write a biography about my darlin’ companion Elizabeth, who grew up between two differently interesting brothers in Lincoln, attending Randolph and Holmes elementary schools, Lefler Middle and Lincoln Southeast.
For now, I’ll just hit the highlights.
* In high school, she played on two state championship basketball teams in 1995 and 1997, which helped to strengthen her confidence, resilience and leadership muscles.
* A summer of college volunteering at a camp for kids where she worked closely with a camper with autism set her on a career path as a special education teacher, which turned into a master’s degree specializing in autism. In that teacher role, she combines two strengths, compassion and pragmatism.
* Elizabeth, her husband, Adam, and three lovely and energetic kids live in Denver, and she teaches at their wonderful Spanish dual-language school. She is also an entrepreneur, trying out at least a couple of businesses, including as a trained postpartum doula, to offer non-medical physical and emotional support and information to new mothers. “I would love to see the U.S. catch up with the rest of the developed world in taking better care of new parents and young families,” she says.
* While Elizabeth started out as a homebody of a kid, she jumped into international travel in college, and at one point played on a Kenyan women’s basketball team for a few weeks. She has now touched down on four of the seven continents and the land bridge of Central America. In our home country, she’s visiting as many national parks as possible, eight so far, with more to come, and is in constant pursuit of family-friendly and adult-only epic hikes in the mountains of Colorado.
* She grows beautiful flowers in her sunshine-filled Denver yard that yield gorgeous bouquets. Among my favorites are her zinnias and dahlias.
You’ll get to know her courage and decisiveness this year (she’s an Enneagram Type 8, The Challenger), as she is “not afraid to tackle a tough conversation or speak up for the underdog.” She cares about common sense gun law reform, women’s health, education and creating a more inclusive and equitable environment for all.
Anna Autumn Swartzlander -- Mary Kay Roth’s daughter
Growing up she was my Anna Banana wildflower child, a girl who broke all rules and roared through all boundaries. Today she has blossomed into a glorious woman, nurse practitioner and mom of two enchanting girls.
I’d like to introduce you to my daughter, Anna Autumn Swartzlander.
Anna is a young woman with spirit and soul, someone passionate about everything she does.
She’s a lovely, whimsical mom to Scout and Everlyn, taking them on daily adventures: Ice skating, reading, bicycling, skiing, sledding, scavenger hunts.
Anna raises chickens, owns a crazy dog named Max, is a voracious reader, shares her grandmother’s remarkable green thumb.
And of course she’s a natural for working in health care, fiercely smart and conscientious about patient care. As a nurse she was nursing director at a local memory care facility – as a nurse practitioner she first served in state corrections centers and now teaches at the University of Nebraska Medical Center as well as working part-time in palliative care for Tabitha.
I’m proud and blessed to be her mom. We joined forces and bought an ancient pickup truck – I haul my kayak and. she pulls her speedboat.
Together, we’ve thrown axes, downed margaritas, gazed upon sandhill cranes, kayaked, danced at live concerts and laughed the night away.
Anna is stressed sometimes, as working moms so often are, but she said “yes” to our blog because she believes in the exquisite wonder of stories.
Anna writes: “Growing up within a family of reporters, I learned the power and passion of written communication early. I remember emotional responses to phrases from my favorite books as much (or more) than I remember core memories.
“During nursing school, I was the only one in my class who knew that if you fracture your second cervical vertebrae, survival is still possible, although paralysis is likely. I didn’t know this information from my nursing instructors or from nursing textbooks, I learned it long before while devouring Michael Connelly and Harlan Coben murder mysteries. I was able to educate my
engineer/mechanic boyfriend on Delahaye automobiles (of which he had never heard) after learning about them from author David Baldacci.
“Books such as The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Killers of The Flower Moon, Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End, have helped shape my morals and beliefs. Jodi Picoult, Alice Hoffman and my own mom, Mary Kay Roth, have gotten me through some of the worst times in my life through the magic of pen and paper.
“The written world has educated me, entertained me and helped shape my entire life. My hope is that someday my own words can educate, entertain and perhaps even help mold someone else’s journey.”
I have absolutely no clue what Anna Banana will write about. But I love her dearly and am convinced she’ll fit perfectly into our circle of mayhem.
Chelsea Klinkebiel -- Marilyn Moore’s niece
I met Chelsea for coffee on Friday morning at the Telegraph Mill. It’s one of our favorite places
to get together, catch up, and reconnect. Over the next three hours, we did just that. Lots of
catching up, lots of reconnecting.
We talked about family. Her dad is my brother, and there’s always family news. Her parents
live on the family farm where I grew up, and Chelsea and her husband Cole and their daughter
Charlie (fourth grade) live in Lincoln, just a mile from us. I’m the lucky one!
We talked about another family that has become dear to Chelsea in the last year, an immigrant
Afghani family. She and several other volunteers have supported this family as they have found
their way in a new country, a new city, and a new home. She tells me the two older boys love
everything about school, which of course thrills my heart…except lunch. They don’t like chicken nuggets…too bland!
We talked about cooking, and gifts, and houseguests, and the surplus of cookies we all seem to
have the day after New Year’s. We talked about Cole’s new adventure; he’ll be opening a coffee
kiosk in the next few weeks. We talked about the animals they have in their very urban life –
two dogs, a cat, a gecko, and a half-dozen chickens.
We talked about the fragile state of higher education. Chelsea is professor in the Psychology
department at Nebraska Wesleyan, and like all colleges and universities across the country, it’s
rocked by diminishing resources and lower enrollment. I love “talking school” with her, and I
can empathize with the grading load at the end of the semester. She’s a learner, she’s
committed to her students and to her colleagues, and she improves a course every single time
she teaches it.
Prior to joining the faculty at Wesleyan, Chelsea was a child psychologist with a pediatric
practice in Lincoln. I still remember her setting up an office at home so she could see patients,
many of them preschoolers, by telehealth during Covid restrictions. How she managed that is a
mystery to me…but she did! And she was so glad to see them face-to-face when that was
possible again….
Chelsea is adventuresome. She was the first in our family to study abroad, living in Toledo,
Spain, for a semester in her junior year. It was a life-transforming experience. She was the first
in our family to leave Nebraska to study, pursuing her graduate work at Texas Tech, because
that school had the strongest program in her area of interest. When I had the opportunity to
travel to China, she went with me, a transformational experience for both of us!
Chelsea is a woman of compassion, strength, and humor. She has a strong sense of justice, and
she cares deeply about those who live on the margins, who are being pushed closer and closer
to the edge. One of my favorite roles is being her aunt, and I’m so glad you will meet her soon
in the midst of mayhem. Look for her in the 5 Women Mayhem blog next weekend!
As we enter our seventh year of Mayhem, thanks for sticking with us. And if you are so inclined, spread the words.
