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Category: Uncategorized

Explore diverse insights from divorce attorneys. Gain valuable knowledge on topics spanning divorce, support, custody, and legal proceedings.

Uncategorized

Explore diverse insights from divorce attorneys. Gain valuable knowledge on topics spanning divorce, support, custody, and legal proceedings.

Bitter and Sweet: A Tribute to my Sophia

She arrived at 2:55 p.m. on September 7th ten full years ago.  She charged into this world amid a flurry of frantic activity as my labor suddenly went into overdrive and I dilated from 7 to 10 centimeters in mere minutes.  3 pushes later she took her first breath:  My Sophia Grace. Oh how bittersweet this birthday is marking the completion of a decade spent dancing through the days with this daughter of mine.  From being the toddler who regularly pulled at my ear lobes for comfort in what we deemed Sophia’s ear tugs to now having long enough legs
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Former Family Feelings

I approached my former husband amidst the room of the grieving. Momentarily disoriented by his polite reach to shake my hand, I leaned forward with an insistent and brief but sincere hug. “My dad always really liked you,” he said, forcing that smile I remember from our married years when he tried to look on the sunny side of sad situations. “And I always really liked him,” I said, looking away and choking back the tears. My former father-in-law was a good man. I remember him quietly giving a “be nice” reminder when squabbling between me the lawyer and my
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The Sprint

I saw him as I rounded the corner on the way to my car.  He was near sprinting in his suit.  “Did Anna go in already?” he asked.  “I don’t think so,” I replied as I looked over my shoulder to check and saw the last of her classmates enter the wide front doors.  It was the first day of school.  It was the first time he missed it.  “Sophia is still out there,” I said trying to be helpful.  “Thanks,” he replied as he walked briskly by to wish our youngest a good day. I had triumphantly made it
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I am a Firewalker… Really

Within a matter of hours, I would take a step I once thought impossible. The master firewalker was about to prepare me and a roomful of other courageous and anxious souls to walk across a bed of hot coals on our bare feet. “What are the fears that have held you back?”  She asked. Now I was not only going to have to worry about a trip to the emergency room, I should think about a lifetime of fears?  I reflected on a huge host of insecurities that had blocked me from taking that first, or that next step, or
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Dreams Undone

You have seen her:  The gymnast precariously perched on the balance beam curling her toes trying hard to stay upright on the beam seconds before she slips off.  You have seen him:  The gold medalist Olympian returning to defend his record only to fall into seventh place during the final seconds.  The Olympics, for the majority of those who walk in the parade of nations at the opening ceremony, will end up being the deathbed of their deepest held dream. I think about all of the dreams that go into the Olympics – thousands of dreams coming from every corner
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Waking Up About Sleep

When I was a girl, I’d sometimes go to bed in my clothes just so I wouldn’t waste any time getting a start on the next day. For much of my life, a shortage of sleep silently signified I was half as hardworking as my German mother of eight. As a young mom of two under two, stressed by building my fledgling law practice and struggling in my marriage, sleep took a back seat to my beliefs about survival and success. Out of touch with both my body and my burnout, I pushed through my days oblivious to my exhaustion
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I Never Knew

Six words. Six words was the project assigned to my 6th grade daughter at the end of the school year. She was tasked with writing a six-word memoir of her life.  She completed the assignment and wrote: “I never knew they were unhappy.” I could think of a couple six word statements that I may have preferred: “I break for cats and books.” Or “I am happy, healthy, and whole!” Or “My mom is truly super awesome!” Any of these would have sufficed. Instead, five years later, she defined her life around her parents’ divorce.  This profound statement surprised and
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Remembering Angel

She carefully leaned into the microphone, her voice vulnerable with anticipation. Separated from her siblings, in and out of countless schools, she shared how she was packed up without warning and taken to a stranger’s house. How the second home, the one that followed the emergency one, was not a refuge but a haven for abuse. How she didn’t know if she would ever have a relationship with either of her parents again. As I examined her tiny frame and dark eyes I couldn’t discern Angel’s age. She spoke of years of being of repeatedly losing the few new friends
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The Truth

She is tough as nails.  Oftentimes she is in my office wearing a leather jacket and when talking her deep voice reveals a sharp wit and quick intellect.  She has short stylish spiked hair.  I assume that she intimidates a large percentage of people who cross her path.  As I prepared her for what her trial experience may be, I wondered how she may come across in court – this tough as nails mom. I was positive that even if I had suggested her wearing an appliqué sweatshirt with puffy kittens on it to soften her appearance, she would not
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Ashamed

Shame washed over me as quickly as my thought arrived, disturbing my relaxing read of the morning paper. The headline that Elizabeth Gilbert was getting divorced struck me with a sudden dash of vindication. The award winning author was separating from the man whom her million plus readers of Eat, Pray, Love knew as Felipe. After twelve years, which included publication of Gilbert’s other best seller, Committed: A Love Story, it was over. Why would I possibly feel any hint of satisfaction at the heartbreak of another? Did I dislike her? Had I become a cynic of marriage after decades
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