Hello, Mamas! I am thrilled to have joined this amazing team of warrior moms with Indianapolis Moms this past year. Kaitlin has allowed me the space and freedom to tell my story each month, and for that, I am grateful.
I grew up in a small town in Indiana in a house at the end of the neighborhood with a high school government teacher and city councilman-turned Mayor as my dad and a mom who took on many roles and jobs while raising creative and strong-willed little me. I grew up listening to Sandi Patty, Aretha, and all the Firestone Christmas records. I wanted to be on Broadway, ride the subway, at least attend the Tony Awards, and have at least one world tour. I had big plans as a ten-year-old.
I might not have gone on to star on Broadway, but I did perform at Carnegie Hall, have totally gotten lost on many solo-subway trips through NYC and in the round-a-bouts of Hamilton County, and I did manage to make it on a tour bus in Chicago with Michael Buble’s horn section.
I have three degrees in education, including a Masters of Special Education, and I wouldn’t change my decision to pursue those degrees or the eight years of teaching in classrooms with all kinds of amazing kids for anything. It was through one particular job where I was introduced to my future husband – a middle school science teacher named Greg. Greg had a house, a car, a savings account, a 403b, and he cooked dinner. He was an adult. A true adulting adult. I needed his common sense and homemade dinners, and he needed my theatrical flair and spontaneous (sometimes disastrous) decision making. I love the Cubs. He loves the White Sox. We obviously make a great team.
From this marriage, I was able to finally take hold of much-needed sobriety five years ago, become a foster mom to three children, birth a baby girl, and become a forever mom to our son through adoption.
I’m close to forty. I am a sexual trauma survivor. I am a singer, a storyteller, a writer, an actor, a teacher, a worship leader, a lover of tacos and sweet tea, I eat my feelings in my mini-van, I have two toddlers under the age of 4, and I’m pretty much exhausted the majority of each day. I am open about my showdowns with panic attacks, anxiety, and depression.
I am a white mom raising a black son. I am also raising a neurodiverse child with unique challenges and amazing talents. I am a special needs mom. No degree prepares you for parenting.
I would hope to call myself a truth-teller and a seeker of the true ten-year-old me that is slowly rising up each day. I can count my close friends on one hand. The other hand threw my filter out with the dirty diapers. I am an Enneagram 7; I have to be reminded that I physically can not carry the weight of this world on my heart, but I can commit to doing what I can to change it to a place my children deserve. I have no time for nonsense, and I know that the God of the universe loves every bit of me because I can feel it in my bones.
I am a woman, a daughter, a partner, a mom, a teacher, a student, and I have many more stories to tell and more of me to uncover and be called out on. Thanks for being a part of this journey with me and allowing me to tell my truth.
