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| Colleagues from my child welfare days. Gabriella is dedicated to them. |
When I was in the 8th grade I had a pen
pal in Japan. We shared our hopes and dreams for our futures. (Remember this
was in the mid-1950’s so my dreams were limited to wife/mother, nurse, teacher
or secretary). I came across one of my letters (I always copied what I wrote her) a few
years back. There it was in black and white albeit somewhat faded. I wanted to
have 9 children (8 boys and 1 girl)!!! I even had names for everyone!!!
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| Judith with her granddaughters at her youngest's 8th grade promotion! |
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| Judith, both her granddaughters and her great granddaughter |
The Universe was merciful and I had one child, my
son. He had two daughters, my granddaughters. The youngest granddaughter has
two children—almost two and newborn.
Where I am in my life now, I remain grateful
that I only had one child. Raising him as a single mom had its challenges. I
won’t bore you with the details suffice it to say I have great respect for
single moms everywhere. In fact, Hunter
is dedicated to single mothers!!!
Also Lily is a single parents. And, even though Diana and Ashley are married, their husbands are not involved fathers.
Which
is worse, knowing you are a single parent or parenting alone because your
husband, the father of your children is emotionally and often physically
absent?
Learn more about The Sacred Women’s Circle series on her website.
You can also find Judith on FB!
© 2017 Judith Ashley
4 comments:
My daughter would say it's worse to parent alone when your partner is emotionally and physically absent. She divorced her daughter's father for that reason. Because of that decision, my granddaughter grew up with a step-sister her own age and a stepfather who put his girls first and still does!
Love the pictures, Judith! You've lived a full life with many interests and much accomplishment. I applaud you. And I'm so happy that you have your little family. I feel blessed with my son and daughter, one granddaughter, and her son and daughter. It doesn't have to be a big family to be a loving family.
Sarah, I'd agree with your daughter. If you are single and parenting, you have more options and opportunities for support. It's that "being alone in a crowded room" syndrome (if there is such a syndrome) - but that loneliness is far worse than being alone in your own room or home - at least in my opinion. When I was divorced, my son and I lived in Oregon. My ex-husband lived in Ohio, remarried and had a family. He wasn't available as a long distance dad although I did know several divorced dads that took the time and effort to keep involved with their kids.
Thanks for stopping by, Barb. You are right - it isn't the numbers in a family that count...it is the close connections that make a loving family.
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