By: Sharmen Oswald

Sharmen Oswald — Sun, 08 Sep 2024 21:56:01 +0000

Hi Pamela,
I’ve subscribed to your blog for about two years. Over that time, I have enjoyed reading your guests’ stories and how they do life. I love reading the stories of perserverance. My life recently took a complete turn-around when my contract to come back to the school that I called home for thirty-one years was not renewed. I have been in education for a total of forty-three years. I began to think of a way to reinvent myself, make myself marketable. I doubted my worth, but persevered and now have a job with the school district. I have learned new skills, made new contacts and ventured into unknown territory. While our son was finishing up his degree at the Citadel, his girlfriend lived with us to help with her commute to her job at MUSC Cardiact Rehab Center. We lived closer than her parents, making her commute 40 minutes instead of two hours. Seven months after our son graduated, she called off the relationship just as he was ready to propose. I never expected to experience grief over the loss of our relationship with her, but I especially have. She was as close to a daughter as I could have imagined, and having her in our home reminded me and my husband of having our own daughter at home, who is now grown and married. I say all of this to show that life is unpredictable, but we have to just take that first step into unknown territory when we are hit with change. I still miss our son’s ex-girlfriend (that’s really hard to write) and the teachers and students at my old school. Our son, our last fledgling, will leave our home soon, which brings another change and possibly grief. If I have learned anything, I guess it would be that grief is a normal part of living. Some people do grief well, and others not so well. One way that I have healed in this unsettled life and world, is to write poetry and short stories based on family stories and on what I may be going through at the time. Words can heal. Your blog and your book, that I just ordered, help in many ways to deal with change by showing how you do life. Thank you for your words. Thank you for authenticity. Sharmen

Comments on: About Me

By: Sharmen Oswald