It’s nice to meet you. I’m a mom and nature lover, but more than that, I love the nature inside myself and how that has fed all of the other parts of me. My favorite places at home are in the barn, in the gardens, and under the silver maples…

He invited his father to the wedding. — My son, this good-hearted beautiful boy, is all grown up. This Army man is soon to be married to an incredible young woman. This boy, 7 pounds, 12 ounces at birth, taught me what loving really was. He taught me what life was truly about. He also taught me what…

I’ve been waiting a long time for this — Just six years ago, my now ex-husband felt a threat to our marriage. The threat was not real, but the misperception convinced him to do something I’d begged him to do for a decade. He got a vasectomy. I had not said anything to him for quite some time. I…

An odd, but sweet, pair. — These two are inseparable. Last night, as I walked by her bedroom, I noticed them sleeping in her bed…together. They are 16 and best friends. Yes, I knew he was sleeping over. I’m still a little uneasy about it. But we all love him and I trust both of them…

of my body and my soul — For many years, I had a vision of what my husband’s effect on me was. He was sucking my soul out of my nose. This is long before I was familiar with the dementors in Harry Potter. …

She can make or break your life…and your children’s lives, during a divorce. The influence of a woman, any woman, is not to be denied. Good, bad, pure, innocent, worldly-wise, and cunning…they all have power. It’s less about what kind of power we have and more about how we wield…

Hard lessons from the “Mom who can’t stop mothering.” — I’m sure when my Mom and Dad had their nine children, they weren’t thinking of the decades of harm they were doing to the oldest daughter. Having a big family is such an incredible experience. It really is. …

What’s wrong with me? — A lot of things became clear during my divorce that had me confused for years, even decades. I’d felt like a really, really bad wife for many reasons, one of them being that I came to a point where I really wished he wouldn’t come home. I looked at that…

How many ways can we be co-dependent? — When I married my now-ex about 29 years ago, I immediately fell into the most unhealthy relationship I can now imagine. I wanted a marriage where we did things together, dreamed together, worked together, and actually lived together. He professed to be independent and I felt he didn’t “need” me…