She said it in such a whisper I could barely tell she was talking. “I still love him,” she said with a shiver of shame running over her. My heart moved over to make room for her. I had met this sadness before – from the hims and hers who came in throughout the years…
I live in constant fear. Walking on eggshells, whispering my first words in a conversation and bracing myself when I hear the door shut from their arrival have become the norm. It started about 2 years ago when my oldest turned 13. My household now includes a 15 ½ year old and a 13 year…
I will not likely ever forget the pit in my stomach. It was in the wee hours of the morning when sleep evaded me. After a recent break-up, my thoughts were not yet managed, nor healed. I rolled over in bed to open my laptop and before I knew it there he was in a…
For 13 consecutive years now on a back-to-school morning I have awakened with excitement. In the early years I picked the perfect bow for my daughters’ hair and took my time while they let me brush and style their pretty hair. In the latter years I have helped chose the outfit or made sure group…
A three-hour window. A three-hour window was all it took to feature the failings of co-parenting. It was a minor parenting plan problem. Our case study features an eight-year old girl and her parents two years post-divorce. 4th of July arrived with the provision providing for holiday parenting time to begin at noon. The…
“This is unacceptable. Can I talk to your supervisor?” The woman was irritated and barking demands. I waited patiently in line to check my daughter in to Children’s Hospital for a shoulder injury. I was called up to the next available receptionist and beside the irate woman. “I do not understand how this happened,” she…
It is hard for me to write about him. In so many ways now he is just someone I used to know. Strange that what seems like another lifetime ago, he was the person I used to know best. This week would have been our 18th wedding anniversary, but instead time let 8 years slip…
I felt embarrassed when the movers asked where the box with the wedding dress should be placed. And then even more embarrassed when my landlord went to replace the carpet in the basement before I had fully moved out and had to move a small pile of belongings from the basement to the main floor…
Angela Dunne’s reflections on the “last days” experienced during divorce. Today is the last day of school for yet another year that flew by in the blink of an eye. The last day of school signifies the end of a season. My girls and I look forward to this day each year. To mark the…
A letter to the moms I have worked with over the last 20 years Dear Moms, I have been watching you for years. I have been listening to your struggles. I have been hearing your hope. You have been teaching me strength, grit, persistence, passion, and loyalty. You have been showing me the path of…