Relationships & Family

A Bell Ringer's Promise

admin — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 10:40:00 -0500

Sad times can be even sadder at Christmas. Twenty years ago I was a divorced single mom, struggling with a job and college classes, hoping for a better life. Money was tight. I literally counted pennies.

One cold December day I squeezed into the last parking place at the supermarket. Meals for my 13-year-old son, Shawn, and me were a priority. But it was Christmastime. Shawn dreamed of an electric guitar.

Who Would Watch Over Us?

Thu, 11 Dec 2008 18:11:40 -0600

I shushed the kids. Driving in this snow was nerve-racking enough. I was emotionally drained that Christmas. It was the first since Jim, my husband, passed away, and I wondered how I could take care of our kids.

Even this simple trip to the grocery meant that the three of them—17-year-old CJ, 11-year-old Sandie and three-year-old Ronnie—had to come with me.

Single Mom?

jbloustein — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 14:58:06 -0500

It was the vacation of a lifetime. My daughter, Kimberly, my parents and I had driven all over the U.S. and into Canada together. We’d ridden a double-decker bus, walked on a glacier, even spotted a bear.

Just six months into my divorce, I didn’t know how I’d fare as a single mother. But things had gone so well on this trip, I was beginning to think Kimberly and I would be totally fine.

Until the night we stopped at a motel in Montana. Kimberly called her dad from the phone in our room.

How Do They Do It?

jbloustein — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 12:39:55 -0500

My husband had been out of town less than a day when Olivia came down with the stomach flu.

My first thought was, “Oh no—not when Phil is away!” I know there are armies of strong women out there who can clean up six vomiting kids without even mentioning to their husbands that they are having a rough day, but I am not one of them.

When stomach flu hits our house, I holler for my husband like a toddler calling for her mommy.

Family Ties

admin — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 10:21:18 -0500

My parents split up when I was only six months old, and Mom got so upset at the mere mention of my father that I didn't dare try to get in touch with him growing up. All I had of my dad were a few faded photographs, and I longed for something more, especially after I heard he'd remarried and had another daughter and a son. I will find the rest of my family, I told myself. Someday.

"Go Home Now"

admin — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 06:18:00 -0500

"Stay away from the pool, Danny," I told my three-year-old as he headed for the backyard to ride his Big Wheel.

"Yes, Mom," he said obediently.

Listening to the sound of his plastic tricycle, I returned to the kitchen, sighing. It was not easy being a widow, and raising two children on my own was often a strain.

I busied myself about the house until something made me stop dead still. I cocked my ear. No sounds of Danny's tricycle.

Partners in a Dream

admin — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 16:32:31 -0600

My eyes were barely higher than the long, broad stretch of butcher-block counter my mother worked over in the kitchen of our rural Alabama home—her hands moving like magic, chopping okra, snapping peas, seeding peppers, stripping corn. Each action, each movement, was deft, with a confidence that can only come from a love for the work. My mother loved cooking the way some people love poetry. As she worked she often hummed hymns and spirituals, a deep resonant counterpoint to the darting movement of her dark, gifted hands. I watched everything she did, and I learned.

Mom

admin — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 05:45:00 -0500

I am truly my mother's son. I think about Geraldine Barber everyday and I don't mean just in passing. I've had many fine coaches over the years—from high school to the NFL to my mentors on the Today show. Hands down, my mom is one of the most influential persons in my life. That's how it should be with moms. So with Mother's Day coming up next month, I want to tell you about the most important lesson she ever taught me.

Mom Empowerment

admin — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 10:55:00 -0600

Kayleen Simmons knows a lot about the welfare program in Salt Lake City, Utah. She's helped hundreds of its beneficiaries learn to make it on their own, each bringing her goal closer to becoming a reality: "I want there to no longer be a need for the welfare system."

Slap on a Little Lipstick

admin — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 11:17:00 -0500

I was rushing out the door in a torrential rainstorm, aggravated that I hadn't finished half the things I needed to get done. Still, I had to make this quick dash to the copy shop. I grabbed my umbrella and raincoat then stopped at the threshold.