Memory Board & My Single Days

Tonight I posted about a board I have in my house, well actually it was more like the attic, because unfortunately I have moved dozens of times in the last 8 years and this poor thing keeps getting packed and unpacked - I got it in a junk sale I think and painted it red to match my earth tones of my home in Port Jefferson and then Huntington. I was almost 30 and getting divorced from my first husband. I was a single mom with my daughter Anne split between our respective homes half the week. Our divorce was very bitter and cost me about $40K. Hard to believe even now what that kind of money could do for me now . 

But this board meant a lot because I saved the little momentos from our years together before I remarried . I referred to them as 'dark times' and they did seem dark then but someone reminded me this evening that they're not really dark, just different. They were ours and no one else's. We made the best of what we had and we have fond memories now. She and I did so many activities! Theatre, games, after school activities, horses, trips to beach and Maine; she still loves apples as much as she did then too. I loved her crafty butterflies and her photo from her preschool cubby. I'll never forget her napkins where she drew Turkeys for Thanksgiving. She was always the artist. 

I often talk about the program now as a coach serving as my beacon through rough times . When I was single I endured much hardship and I had to remember to keep a lot of it from her, or at least try to; I was hustling 3 jobs, and still finishing my doctoral degree. I just remember being very confused, tired, and often angry. But we had some of the most amazing times together. She was my beacon then and I'm glad I'm around to show her the best of me now. 

Tonight I shared my dream board of 2016 with her. She has faith in me she says. I am honored to have her as a daughter. Thank you for believing in me the way I once did in you.