Handling Life Changes OR Transitions are Tricky

Since I have been quiet for too long, let me offer an update:

Tatting Friends and Family,

The past two years have been a wild ride. The lead-up to divorce proceedings was a stressful eight months. Then life took a hard left turn when my husband suddenly and very unexpectedly died on April 4, 2024.

While it admittedly doesn't sound like a lot of time, anyone who has navigated the pre-process of divorce will tell you the ups and downs can be dramatic.

Let me state for the record that I did not want to divorce. 

Todd Parent and I were getting through the legally-required waiting period (one year) before filing when life took that terrible, horrible, no good, very bad, Hard. Left. Turn.

I am not even joking when I say, it was 11 months before a cause of death and an autopsy was released.

Several unfathomable details emerged, only one of which I will share: Todd literally left Sapling/Twig/Banyon and I penniless. He withdrew the last $100 out of the bank account the same day his dead body was found. I would learn later that he had opened at least five other bank accounts, all of which had been depleted. So I couldn't "follow the money," as they say in movies, to get answers.

Transitions are Tricky

With huge amounts of help from family, both chosen and blood, I stumbled through the dissociative fugue and financial crisis of those early months. Unpacking the new reality of my life was a jumble of tears, fears, confusion (Who am I?), emotional distress, practical problems, and poor attempts to address the underlying trauma. So many folks jumped in to help - without hesitation - in the best ways they could. 

Outpourings of Support 

    The SCA and Beyond: It takes a village to raise a child. It took a village to save us. SO MANY citizens of the SCA (who I didn't even think remembered me) responded like family, as if we had only connected yesterday instead of decades ago. They opened their pocket books and their hearts to make sure that my son and I would not starve. How can I ever repay such kindness? There is only one way; to pay it forward. I promise you I will. I don't 'have enough words, but my heart is so full.

More to come.