Family 2011

Sooooo . . .  today my kid’s father & his wife are moving from California to Colorado (where we live). The kids and I moved here 17 years ago. Their father & I divorced over 20 years ago and I’ve raised the kids by myself. He and I have certainly had some difficult times over the years but for the most part have been cordial. Since the divorce I’ve carried the weight of parenting, decision making and life in general for myself and the kids. There were times of doubt, times with troubles, times of bad decisions and times of good decisions.

The kids are now 27 & 24 and they are on their own, making their own way through life. Split families are rarely easy. Sometimes . . . so much emotion, so much pain, so much anger, so many misconceptions. It takes time to move beyond the mess a divorce leaves behind. Well, time is what it takes for people to grow up. When you grow up (if you grow up) you start to realize what’s really important in life. Life just doesn’t have to be as difficult as we sometimes make it.

Maybe I’m grown up. Things that were important to me in my 30’s are not important to me in my 50’s. They say that with age comes wisdom . . . hummmm. The longer you live the more you see, the more you understand. With age comes peace and a sense of being comfortable in your own skin. When you’re comfortable in your own skin you’re open to people and the differences we all have. You can’t change people but you can change the way you react to them. You don’t choose your family and for my kids WE ALL are their family.

I am very excited for my kids to have their dad living so close to them after all these years. When he chose to move here he “chose” THEM. He chose to be close to them and to be around as they continue to grow into these 2 great adults that they are and what a gift for them!

Hmmmmmm  . . . kinda thinkin’ that after all these years . . . I’m kickin’ back, enjoying a glass of wine, takin’ a deep breath, feeling a few less “weights“.  So with all that ramblin . . . “Welcome to Colorado, Mark & Imelda”.