Where am I Now? Served Divorce Papers in 2021. Where am I Now? 

It’s mental health month and many of you know what I’ve been through over the past 3 years (I am a devout catholic, a proponent for marriage, married 19 years, the victim of financial abuse, the victim of emotional abuse, served divorce papers, turned advocate, a survivor of financial and emotional abuse, officially divorced January 5th, 2023).

Since I have been officially divorced I thought I’d take a few minutes to catch you up.  I am still at the same job, I am the Upper School (6th-8th grade) Science teacher at Northwest Ohio Classical Academy  (NOCA) which I must admit has been amazing! I’ve had the privilege of sitting in consistently on three of my colleague’s/faculty members’ courses and let me tell you, they have their students on the edge of their seats! I’ve had the privilege of sitting in on lectures on history, jazz, and philosophy…I’ve grown exponentially just from listening to their lectures. Therefore I will say this, if henceforth you have children K-7th grade I would HIGHLY recommend the epic teachers and administrators at NOCA! (I will be 100% transparent, 9th grade and up, they aren’t quite ready yet, give them 3 years, and come 2026, NOCA will be THE #1 SCHOOL K-12, TRUST ME!!! They have your children’s back!) So why am I leaving? I finally found my calling! Only took a few decades, lol! 

That’s right, I finally found my calling. After an undergraduate and graduate degree in Environmental Science ( I have a BS and MS) I’ve finally found what God has been calling me towards. As a now divorced, mother of three and head of the household, as, I am paying all said bills for the house, pets, car, children, household (roof, gutters, etc), and sole guardian. Nothing is more terrifying than taking a leap, a leap of faith.  I am now working on my dual Masters’s degrees in Clinical Mental Health Counseling and School Guidance Counseling Master’s degree Programs. Thus, I have literally never been so overwhelmed…I am currently having to write a final for 7th grade and 8th grade in addition to, completing 6th-grade science, 7th-grade science classes, 8th-grade science classes, working on Clinical Mental Health Counseling Program classes, helping my own children complete their assignments/courses, etc. Those are my utmost responsibilities. And then…

I have had the most amazing opportunity to meet, well to be fair, further get to know an individual I had been introduced to before, 8 years ago. He was an involved parent at the school my children went to.  I will be the first to admit, to find someone that I legit mesh with so well is uncanny…we even go to the same church, we are parishioners. He has two young children, get this, his 4h grade son was even in my religious education class…I’m just saying, in case God does indeed send signs. I’ve been praying for a God-fearing man! That being said, sadly, a portion of my family has decided that God can only send such a man after said amount of time…thus anyone aware of God’s precise plan/timeline?

Though I will admit first hand, God has called me to be married and be a mother, I am strongly pulled to the vocation of wife and motherhood and have been since 2003, followed by an advocate of children, parents, parenthood, partners, partnership, etc. 

Has anyone entered into a relationship after marriage, especially one that panned almost two decades, 20 years? Any tips or suggestions? Please know I appreciate your vulnerability to share your own experience, suggestions/recommendations from mine, etc.