No one expects to get divorced. By the time that becomes a viable option, things have become pretty bad. It’s a wrenching decision, especially if you have children. There is no getting around the fact that it turns their world upside down. I remember as a child praying in my bed that my parents would
Author: rfmezzy
I was raised in an angry family. My parents fought a lot. It was very clear to me at a young age that my mother disapproved of my father’s gambling, and my father disapproved of my mother’s close relationship with her siblings. There was not a lot of restraint when things got heated and family
I had the exciting opportunity to interview two men, each of whom survived his childhood being raised by a Connecticut Working Mom. Find out what mattered to them and what did not, whether they were scathed or unscathed, and how all the things we all worry about constantly regarding our kids and their growing up
Families are complicated. There are power structures in place that we can see, but often the real bases of power are disguised. Sometimes the weakest-appearing person is really the one in charge. I have long been interested in the effects within a family when one member has an impairment. I knew several people who had
I never knew my maternal grandparents. They died before I was born. My paternal grandparents were around for a long time, but they weren’t the type to tell stories about their lives. I was curious but they weren’t forthcoming. I tried to get my dad to talk about his growing up years, but he was
As parents, we hope (and also fear) that we are the predominant influence in our children’s lives. But there are many more players in the game of child-rearing. I have been thinking back on all the people in my life who contributed and compensated for that which my parents could not give me. I was
The fabulous women of CT Working Moms have a private Facebook page where we all vent and complain and rejoice and celebrate, sharing the good and the bad. Lately we’ve been ruminating about our work lives. Is it worth it? Why do we come home and have to do all that housework? Why do we
I am having a great deal of trouble embracing my chronological age. Recently I started taking Chair Yoga – not because I’m old, of course, but because I have bad knees. I looked around the class and thought, “Wow, I am the baby of this group. These women are all elderly, with white hair.” When
My grandson, Little O, turned 2 ½ on Valentine’s Day. He is smack in the middle of what is supposed to be the terrible twos. From my lofty perch on the grandmother throne, I find all of the manifestations of this age to be hilarious and very cute. I recently unearthed my older sons’ 30-year-old little
There is something I think about daily, as an advocate for the poor, as a mother and now as a grandmother. Who teaches us “how to be”? And how does that happen? When I was raising my sons, I had to teach them how to drink through a straw, how to blow their noses, how to
