A few weeks ago, the boys and I went to the mountains. This was the first trip I took with them by myself. I thought it would be harder. I thought for sure there would be too many meltdowns, too many negotiations, logistics that would be too challenging to navigate. And then the boys and I set off, not knowing how it would go, but leaning into each other. It was the easiest and most fun trip I’ve had with them. With just them, I was able to find my own inner child, to remember my family’s fondness for horses and ride through a river on horseback for the first time, share my love of nature, delight in the sites and scenes, and be a kid again at an amusement park. I paid for the trip with the funds from my business. It was the first time I was able to do this too. The universe has a way of creating cliffs for us to jump off of when we need to learn a lesson...

I was fifteen when this picture was taken, I can remember wondering what was wrong with me as I stared out the window. Thirty years later, having finally figured it out, I am looking at my life with a fresh lens….

From the ashes of our old life, we will rise as we grow together. We will still be a family, but separate spaces will give us the space we need to continue healing without perpetuating our codependent pattern.