Saturday morning on the porch. It’s raining off and on and we’re due for some thunderstorms later in the day.
If you follow my sister Meredith and read her blog, you might have been wondering where she’s been. It wasn’t something I could talk to you about. It was her story to share when the time was right. But she’s written a blog post now so I can share a bit. Briefly, she’s getting a divorce, she’s moved to a new home, and finally, finally, she is in a place where she can begin to heal.
Over the past several years, it has been my constant wish and dream that my sister could finally find peace. She is an incredible human being who deserved better than the crap she was having to deal with on a daily basis. Her husband is a troubled man. Life with him is extremely stressful. And it has been this way for most of their marriage. I don’t know if I could have stuck it out as long as she did, but then again, I’m not a mom with three children. Her concern was, first and foremost, for her children – and so she stayed. Eventually, something happened that was the final straw and she knew it was time to prepare to leave. The transition has been stressful, to say the least, but the day she finally moved into her new home was one of the happiest days of my life. Don and I were literally cheering and clapping in our living room. My sister is so strong.
I love Meredith and all I want is for her to be happy again. To feel that she doesn’t have to constantly be on high alert. To know that her new home can be and will be her haven, her safe place. And that once Little Z adjusts to this change, to know he will be happier. The older boys – who are really men – are at an age where they can support Mere and be there for her. They are such great guys. She has friends down in Florida who have helped her through this transition and I’m so grateful for them. And Z will eventually thrive.
Meredith gives and gives to everyone she knows.
Now it’s time for her to have the gift of peace and release.
You can read her post here. There’s more information there.
She is a strong woman and I am enormously proud of her bravery. Better days are ahead, my dear one. Better days are ahead.
Stay safe.
Happy Saturday.
Thanks for letting us know. I suspected a divorce when she mentioned troubles in her life. I am sure you breathed a great sigh of relief that your sister is making a better life.
I did. Thank you, Ellen.
Stay safe.
I have always enjoyed following your sister on her blog and have truly admired her. Her dogs always put a smile on my face.
I pray God’s peace in her life now. Four years ago we went through a horrific divorce with our daughter , and now she is in a much better situation.
Hope fully you will be able to visit her soon. Thank God it sounds like she has wonderful sons and beautiful friends nearby.
She does. She is blessed and I feel so much better knowing those wonderful people are there for her.
Stay safe, Linda.
I was a little worried.
Glad to know that things are changing for the better.
Thank you for the update on Meredith. She is truly blessed by all the wonderful support she is receiving from you, her sons and friends. I pray that she will be blessed with peace and that her life will continue to improve from this point on.
Thank you, Denise.
She’s doing well.
Stay safe.
Thank you, Rue.
Stay safe.
Thoughts
Prayers
Strength
Friendship and family
Indeed!
Thanks, Brenda.
Stay safe.
I have read Meredith’s blog for a long time…maybe before yours. I have been concerned about her and hoped she wasn’t dealing with health problems. I’m so glad it wasn’t that.
I wish peace and healing for her and her boys.
Take care
Thank you, Marilyn.
Stay safe.
Claudia, Meredith relies on you for strength and love, and I know you provide those in spades. I’m glad she’s found the courage to leave a bad marriage, and begin the road to healing and finding whatever more she needs for happiness.
I’m so relieved for her.
Thank you, Wendy.
Stay safe.
Wow, good for Meredith to move on where she can find some peace and contentment. She sure has done a great job putting her home in order in a short time.
Your plants are lovely!
She has. We’re both nesters, so having things in place was essential for both Mere and Little Z.
Stay safe, Lynda.
I thought so even before I read your words…I actually found your blog through hers and I’m not too surprised to read this, but I am awed by her strength and honesty. Beautiful writing which comes straight from the heart clearly runs in your family. (Please feel free to share this with her as for some reason I am usually unable to figure out how to comment on her blog.)
Your lovely porch never fails to bring a smile to my face!
I can’t comment on her blog, either – nor can I on a lot of Blogger blogs.
Thanks so much, Naomi.
Stay safe.
Your sister is a very special person and I am so glad she is making this change. I lived through a very bad marriage longer then I should have but I’m so much happier now. Wishing her and little Z all the best!
Thanks, Linda.
I’m very, very glad she is on a new path.
Stay safe.
Claudia, sometimes the similarities between my life and yours is scary. I have a sister who went through the same thing as your sister. Married 25 years and decided enough was enough. Has 2 beautiful daughters who have adjusted well. She is a teacher and finally got to buy a house of her own, without a man telling her every minute what she is doing wrong. I too had many phone calls with tears and have always tried to support her in any way I can. I am 3 years older than her so I have always felt very protective of her from a very early age. I could go on and on. It is going on 5 years since the divorce, and she is finally feeling peace. She still has her bad days which I am always there to work her through. The positive that came out of this is she lives 2 blocks away from us! The silly similarities are we have been looking for a Goldendoodle, so when I saw her “boys” I had to show my husband Bill right away. So cute! We had a black Labradoodle, Abby, who we rescued, but passed away a couple years ago. Now we only have 1 dog, Gracie, our Golden Retriever, who truly is the perfect dog. I had to laugh too when I saw your sisters kitchen table, which is exactly like ours, down to the same material on the chairs! Good taste! I have to admire your sister for everything she is going through, especially with a special needs child. My sister Pam’s 2 daughters both work with kids with autism, a profession I could never do because I would be too sad. So proud of them. I look forward to following her blog. So glad I found it! Take care!
Thanks so much, Deb. It’s been very hard being so far away, but we spend hours on the phone and we’ve been cheering her on from afar.
Stay safe.
Harmony will return to your sister’s life. I know the pain you felt . It is not easy to watch someone you love struggle. Now you all can create a healthier family. Healing and happiness wished for all. Hugs of comfort for the little guy
Thank you so much, Patricia.
Stay safe.
How much it must mean to your sister that she has Don’s and your support.
It’s not because of a divorce; rather, age-related/health problems. But my longtime elderly neighbor moved this weekend to offsite assisted living; a very nice place. Thing is, it’s not ‘home’. This lady was a divorcee (finally left the husband who was an alcoholic and impossible to live with any longer; she still had one teen at home and they both came out here to Calif, on their own, from Michigan/Upper Peninsula near the Canadian border) who reinvented herself in so many ways, was able to buy and pay off a home here in our neighborhood over the past 30 years.
She loved her collected things for her home interiors; she thrived in her large yard, where she planted all kinds of flowers, plants and trees, including unusual fruit trees we don’t often see anymore like persimmon and fig. She’s 90 and I felt sorry for her a few days ago when she was so rattled that she couldn’t even remember what day she was moving nor describe to me exactly where, although I figured it out. The stress of going thru her lifetime accumulation of stuff (to severely downsize, going from a 3-bed to a 1-bed place, and she was stuffed to the gills including the 2-car garage), which took her eight months, leaving a lot of it behind for I have no idea WHOM, the movers there yesterday, and today in a new place, the stress must be so very difficult for her although she seems to have a lot of friends helping her, and I think her nephew arrived today from out of state, which is a big positive and I hope he can stay a couple of weeks to help settle her in.
So, your sister has been through all of this, and I’m too wishing peace for both her and my elderly neighbor in their new digs. Moving is very high on ‘the stress ladder of life’; add in divorce, and your sister has gotten a double whammy.
Ah, gee, I just clicked on your link to her blog, read her post; so real, so poignant; brave woman; good woman. I wish her all the best; ‘if only’ the two of you lived nearer to one another, but at least you’ve got the phone. Sounds like the next time you and Don go anywhere in this strange pandemic few years, although I know you had the gig in NYC, Claudia; it will be to Florida to visit your sister; might make a nice trip for you and Don, maybe come Fall?!! Thanksgiving? Or perhaps the best time to visit, weather-wise, is Christmas! (I was in Miami once in October and it was dang hot/humid.) I think I’m being presumptuous!
(I’m so glad she has the dogs.)
If we had one wish, it would be that we lived closer to each other. It’s never been easy, but we accept it.
xo
Such a hard transition for your friend. Brings tears to my eyes.
Once my sister made the decision and was able to start house hunting, she was very efficient. Doesn’t mean she didn’t collapse in tears at times, but she got it done. Now, she’s in her safe haven.
Stay safe, Vicki.
It’s always the indecision; that ‘in-limbo’ thing, which can really get to us. But once you come to an answer and action, makes all the diff; the forward movement. Bravo to her.
xo
Yes, with my neighbor at 90-something, the wish would be that her life could be calm and gentle, guided by someone trustworthy and caring. It’s complicated and I don’t know the whole story, but she was estranged (or just not close to in distance or ‘love’) from most of her family when she very much needed an advocate for this stage of life. Gives me the chills, ‘there but for you go I’. (In my case, there just really IS no family, not much anyway, and everybody’s mostly far away. Oh well. Thank God for my husband at least! We all hang on the best we can for as long as we can, and so did my neighbor. Maybe it will turn out very well for her, which is the intent! She seemed to be looking forward to the served meals, which she said was good food as she’d already tried/sampled it; no longer having to try to cook for herself or rely on delivered food from local restaurants in the pandemic, since she wasn’t able anymore to drive herself anywhere.)
(Thank God for my husband AT MOST. We may at times be contentious opposites, but nothing can get at the love and devotion. He’s been with me for half my life now.)
Same. Not half my life, but for a long time.
xo
xo
Oh, Claudia. I have been thiking about Meredith and almost asked you if she was ok, but I knew you would say it is her story, to share or not to share. And I totally understand that. I actually had a bit of a feeling this might have been it after reading her last few blogs before she took her break. If this brings her and the boys peace, it is worth every moment. Living on edge, walking on eggs, is certainly hard on everyone. Not to mention her job which has stress along with some of the things she has had to face (oh so lovingly) with Little Buddy over the years. She is an amazing woman, and I know that I am certainly in awe of her and what she has accomplished. Peace and joy to her and her boys!
She has been under constant stress for years. YEARS. It was time to make a change. No one should have to live that way, especially not more adored little sister.
Thanks so much, Chris.
Stay safe.
It sounds as if your dear sister’s life is taking a much needed turn for the better.
She seems so brave and capable and surrounded by those who love and support her, including you and Don. Nevertheless, this kind of transition can bring up all manner of pain and i wish her the very best in navigating this murky territory and moving in to true rest and Peace much Love
It won’t be smooth sailing, but the hardest part is over.
Thanks, Grace.
Stay safe.
I’ve followed Meredith’s blog for a very long time and wondered what had been happening with her but decided that she would be back when the time was right for her. I hope she finally can find the peace she deserves. You and Don must be relieved and happy for her.
We are so relieved, Fiona.
Thanks so much.
Stay safe.
As I wrote in my comment to Mere yesterday (or was it Friday — the days run together, it seems), more than once I wanted to ask if all was OK with Mere. But I knew that if there was something wrong, it wasn’t your story to tell. But I have been concerned. So I was glad to discover the post and glad you wrote about it here as well, just in case I didn’t see. Taking that final step to move forward can require great courage and I admire that. I saw hope and relief in her words, some joy at finding a home that will be cozy and comfortable and safe. And of course, the joy of knowing she has dear friends close at hand and a wonderful sister to help her along the way, either hands-on or hearts-on or both. She’s a strong woman. I think the Hill family must have had “good bones” for the two I’ve encountered are indeed strong survivors.
Ah, thank you, Jeanie. That means so much.
Stay safe.
Sending love and prayers to Meredith, her family and you and Don. ❤️
Thank you, Liz.
Stay safe.
Your sister’s post was amazing. She is making a fresh start–good for her! I’ll be keeping in my thoughts as she navigates her new and improved life and enjoying her new-to-me blog.
Thank you, Roxie.
Stay safe.
She is a very strong woman for sure. May she and the kids be blessed in her healing. Now is the time for her Ex to take the time to heal himself too.
xo