I am sure I am a lot like all of you. I have had a life that has been full of laughter, joy, sorrow, and pain.
I grew up as a small baby in the 60s, so I have had the opportunity to see our society’s growth through many generations, which has shaped who I am. We all are the sum of our experiences.
A little about my background: I learn from a small child to be grateful for what I had. My mom was a paraplegic; she broke her back at the age of 19 in a car accident but didn’t let it stop her from having 4 children, I being the oldest.
My mom was told she would never have children, and boy they were wrong. My mom single-handedly raised us, children. She was an independent, strong woman who taught me to smile in the face of adversity and never complained. Her one wish in life was to be able to raise her children to adulthood. She lost her mom at 8 years old. She and her 3 little sisters were bounced from house to house.
My dad, with all his attributes, was an alcoholic and tried but eventually left us; he fought demons a lot of his life.
At 16 years, I met a man with a silver tongue and the heart of a snake who was 8 years my senior. I suffered abuse, but because I believed in marriage, and I believed in love (my first love), I stuck this relationship out through infidelity, mental abuse, and all of the above. The last straw was when he hit our daughter. A few months after that, I left him. After 13 years, 2 kids in tow, I walked out left all my material possessions. I figured out lives were worth more than anything money could buy.
I struggled at the age of 33, trying to support my children and regain some type of normalcy. I felt like God picked me up and took me out of harm’s way. I just didn’t have a choice but to start over.
During this time, I believe God did bring a man into my life that kept me out of harm’s way. We did move to Houston, start a business together, and get married. He was 51. I was 34; he was approximately 18 years older. He was so handsome, charismatic, and successful. He was a self-made man with an ego to match. Our life together was full of ups and downs. We had great adventures and experiences I would have never been able to have had he not been in my life; we were together 27yrs.
I am sure by now, you have read the main page of this website; my husband did get sick with Parkinson’s and Lewy body dementia. That struggle turned our lives upside down and, of course, changed my life forever. He did die in my arms, and my life felt empty and shattered into a million pieces.
