My grandfather was a tiny man, not even 5 feet tall, but in my mind he is a giant. Always kind to strangers, animals and small children. He often made me think of Santa Claus with his wispy gray hair and round belly, generally with a smile on his ruddy cheeked face, he was my hero. My grandmother used to call us “two peas in a pod” because throughout my childhood, we were the best of friends. His nickname for me, “Buddy” came from the fact that we used to describe ourselves a

When you’re married to an abusive partner, whether that abuse is physical, mental, emotional or all 3, the first order of the day is to hide that fact from everyone. You become very adept at disguising your real feelings and emotions when in social settings. During the course of this blog, many friends have reached out to me to express their sadness that I never felt comfortable talking to them while struggling within my marriage. It brings me sadness to think that these kind

When you have been through a difficult marriage and divorce, it takes a few months for the dust to settle so that you can see who the friends are left standing by your side. In my case, I was taken aback by the gaps in my friend circle. The same friend whose children had virtually lived at my house for 4 years, who I had held and cried with through the unexpected passing of her father – gone. The neighbor I had lived around the corner from for 8 years suddenly didn’t recogniz