Moving Forward

Back to school is hard for kids who come from broken homes. Meet the teacher nights prior to school starting can be stressful as often custody summer arrangements sometimes interfere. This year I met my son's new teacher alone for the first time. My sons were still visiting their dad for the summer. They spend extra time with him in the summer to compensate for missed time during the school year week. Most children from divorced homes do spend long periods of time during the summer with their non-custodial parent. Feelings of guilt crept up as I went to meet the teacher, as it is obvious that my family is now somewhat dysfunctional. Later in the week, one of my dear friends called me who is also is a similar situation but located in another state. We used to teach together and we became close friends due to our numerous collaborative projects. When she called me, she began describing her meet the teacher experience, which was very similar to mine. As we began commiserating on how ...

A year ago today I entered a new door in this adventure called life. Many friends back in the day might remember a novel that we would share at parties, entitled I Married Adventure, The novel is an excellent memoir of Osa Leighty who married Martin Johnson, a pioneering photographer who toured with the great Jack London.  As a young, inquisitive, and very independent small town girl, I was very attracted to global and worldly approaches. So, in the mid and late 1990's, I got out of Texas, traveling to Mexico, Holland, Belgium, France, Mexico, and around 33 states. I am grateful that I was introduced to new perspectives, ideologies, fantastic museums, and the music...all from a backpack. My two sons later got to tag along and continue to do so with their two very unique parents, who enjoyed the comforts of rural Texas for a home but also took on large adventures. We entered a new adventure last year, for me it is a solo one.  This year has been rough. Single parentin...