After twenty-two years of marriage, I divorced in 2002. We were high school and later college sweethearts. He was actually the only man I’d ever really known and trusted at that time; he was my hero. Learning to stand on my own and provide for myself was foreign to me. I was terrified, but knew I had to push through my fears, I had to learn to let go of who I was (a wife), and work on becoming who I am today. But for many years I lived with anger, self-doubt, and trust issues

About five years ago I lost the brightest light of my life -  I lost my mom. It was a casual work day, nothing especially alarming other than my mom was being moved to a hospice that very morning.  She had been ill for quite some time, in and out of hospitals and long-term care treatment centers. She was a tough soldier, but very battle-worn. It was my objective to fly to the East Coast from Texas to see my mom the following week and count her fingers and toes as she would sa