As I look back on the years immediately following my divorce, I often reflect and think,”How did I do it?” Divorce often thrusts us into a world of activity and responsibility that no mere schedule can accommodate. We can attempt to become ultra-disciplined by managing our time, our responsibilities with kids, work, legal issues, and […]
Ever feel like an outsider or a rookie in your faith? Does it seem like everyone else has a much deeper faith? Not sure if all this is really true? Feel like you have made too many mistakes to still be accepted by the Church? Feel like an outsider? You are not alone. One of […]
After my divorce, I remember scouring the Catechism for information regarding dating and relationships. Frankly, I was looking for a loophole that would allow me to pursue intimate relationships. I rationalized that since I was divorced, there must be certain exemptions for me. I wanted to date again, and I wanted to be intimate. After […]
I dropped the letter in disbelief on to the kitchen counter. It was a copy of an affidavit that had just been filed with the court by my former spouse’s attorney. It was full of out-and-out lies about me. I had come to expect the torrent of falsehoods coming from my former spouse, so that […]
I read an article recently about a woman who was trying to help her kids understand why Jesus chose to suffer and die when He could have taken a much easier (and less painful) path for our salvation. She tells them of when she did not have enough money to buy a gift to bring to a wedding. […]
I was sitting in my seat (right-hand, aisle, thank you very much!), engrossed in my magazine, when I heard a man say in a rather loud voice, “Excuse me, Ma’am!” Startled, I looked up to see a very overweight man in the seat one row up trying to flag down the flight attendant. When she […]
One morning I walked into Mass very distracted and anxious. I had many things on my mind: projects due at work, challenges with the kids, financial pressures, dealing with the ex, etc. On top of that, I wasn’t feeling well. It was hard to focus on the Mass. Frankly, I was just going through the motions. […]
I remember as a kid, my brother and I went rafting down a river by our house. We played this game where we would take turns going down this particular stretch of rapids in a raft. I would jump in the water, grab the rope, and navigate the raft through the rapids while my brother […]
“I love you, Daddy-O,” my 19-year-old daughter said to me as she hugged me goodbye. She then climbed into her car to drive the five hundred miles to the Naval Air Base that would be her home for the next six months. She had been home on leave for about ten days, and we had […]
“I can’t ever imagine my life without this overwhelming pain,” I managed to choke out between my sobs to my counselor. It had been about three months after my divorce was filed, and I was overwhelmed with grief. I believed the rest of my life was going to be filled with the intense emotional pain […]