We all know someone who we would consider a fanatic. Someone who is consumed with a sports team, or a particular brand of car, or shoes, or clothes, or making money. Whatever their infatuation, it defines them. They are known by it. They are the Red Sox freak, or the Mercedes guy, or the Prada […]
I remember when I was in the throes of my divorce, one of my co-workers said, “I know this is difficult. You deserve to be happy.” I thought, “Yea, she’s right. I do deserve to be happy!” I approached happiness like some kind of life achievement, like graduating from high school. I wanted to graduate from […]
“I hope he rots in Hell!” the woman (let’s call her Marge) sitting in front of me said, her voice filled with bitterness. I sat and listened attentively for the next fifteen minutes as she described in vivid detail all the nasty things her ex did and all the pain he brought into her life. Listening […]
I often equate recovering from divorce to recovering from a near-fatal car accident. You emerge from divorce with your emotional well-being on life support. Every day can bring an avalanche of pain. Relief can be nowhere in sight. Just as physical therapy is used to help mend a broken body, your faith can help mend a […]
I will never forget the morning after my marriage crumbled. It was as if I woke up into a nightmare. I could not believe what was happening to me, my children, and my marriage. It was surreal. I just wanted to close my eyes and hope that I was really still asleep and would wake […]
I vividly remember getting the call from my divorce attorney telling me that my spouse was seeking full custody of our children. That shook me to my core and threw me into full-on crisis mode. I did not want to lose my children! Like any good Catholic I began to storm heaven with my many […]
One day, I had taken my four-year-old to the park to play. He loves the swings, so he made a bee-line for them as soon as we got there. In his typical independent way, he wanted to learn how to “pump” his legs so he didn’t need me to push him anymore. The more he tried, […]
“Ouch!”, my three-year-old daughter cried as I tried to dig the back of her pierced earring out of her earlobe. Evidently, the earrings had been left in her earlobes for too long allowing the backs to close too tightly. While I was keeping calm for her sake, inside I was filled with anxiety. I felt […]
When my son was in preschool, I often brought him into the Church after class to pay Jesus and Mary a visit. With a hushed voice and galloping feet, he made his way down the aisle to the tabernacle to blow a few kisses to Jesus in hope to make His sacred boo-boos feel better. […]
Dealing with teenagers can be a real challenge. A typical teenager is concerned with one thing in their lives: themselves. As a result, they tend to make their relationship with their parents very transactional. They expect to request and to receive, and nothing more. Give them the car keys, and they are happy. Give them money […]