There’s More Than One Way to Start Over

Life has taken me places I never expected. Some I chose. Some I didn’t. All of them taught me something.

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Starting Over

My life has included more than one beginning. I became a mother before finishing high school, eventually went back to school and earned my doctorate, raised two daughters, changed careers more times than I ever planned, and retired from teaching. Each transition asked me to become someone I hadn’t been before. Some changes were choices. Others were handed to me. None came with instructions. Starting over, I’ve learned, isn’t about erasing what came before. It’s about deciding what you want to carry with you into whatever comes next.

Starting over rarely feels like starting fresh. You bring your history, your fears, your responsibilities, and everything you’ve already learned with you. I’ve learned that you don’t need to have the whole path figured out. Sometimes you only need enough courage to make the next decision. Then the next one. A life can change direction many times and still become a life you’re proud of.

Some beginnings are chosen. Others choose us. I write about the moments when life changes direction: career changes, retirement, relationships, loss, identity, uncertainty, and the strange experience of wondering, What comes next?

Explore my stories about starting over →

Money & Independence

My financial independence has a story, and I want to be honest about it.

My husband, Ronz, left me with a pension that gave me a foundation of financial security. I didn’t create that foundation by myself, and I won’t pretend that I did.

What came next, however, was mine to navigate. I had to learn how to manage money on my own, live within my means, understand investing, and make thoughtful decisions about my future. I transferred the money from my teaching retirement account to Charles Schwab and began building and managing an investment portfolio.

I’m still learning. But money no longer feels like something happening around me. I understand it, participate in the decisions, and have confidence in my ability to manage what I have.

Financial independence isn’t the same thing as having a lot of money.

I’ve learned that confidence comes from understanding what you have, knowing what you spend, living within your means, and being willing to learn how your money works.

I didn’t need to become a financial expert. I needed to stop being intimidated by money and become an active participant in my own financial life.

For me, that has created something more valuable than a number on an account statement: a sense of security, choice, and independence.

Money is about more than numbers. It’s about choices.

I write about learning to manage money after major life changes, living within your means, investing without pretending to know everything, financial confidence, and what independence actually feels like when you’re responsible for your own future.

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Living With Intention

For much of my life, there was always something that needed to be done next.

Raise my daughters. Go back to school. Build a career. Change careers. Earn another degree. Work. Save. Plan for retirement.

Then I reached a point where the question changed. Instead of asking, What do I need to do next? I began asking, What do I want the rest of my life to look like?

I’m still answering that question. Living with intention, for me, means paying attention to how I spend my time, who I spend it with, what keeps me curious, what brings meaning to my life, and what I’m still brave enough to try.

Having more freedom doesn’t automatically tell you what to do with it.

I’ve learned that a meaningful life isn’t something you finally arrive at. It keeps changing as you do.

Retirement gave me more control over my time, but it also raised new questions about purpose, relationships, health, curiosity, and who I wanted to become next.

I’m learning to pay attention to what matters now, rather than simply continuing what mattered before.

A life can be full and still leave room for something new.

I write about what happens when the obligations that once organized your life begin to change: retirement, relationships, family, health, travel, curiosity, and the unexpected question of what you actually want to do with your time.

These aren’t stories about having everything figured out. They’re about paying attention, trying things, changing your mind, and creating a life that feels increasingly like your own.

Explore my stories about living with intention →

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