My oldest son, Mark, was born in my senior year of undergrad and that experience grew me up faster than anything else. I’ve worked as a physicist, a classroom teacher, a robotics instructor, a professional editor, and an HR director. I also got married- to a police officer, 17 years my senior, raising his oldest granddaughter- making me a grandma on my wedding day! Lol.  If that weren’t enough, we then had three more kids- Maisy, Maxwell, and Maia Rose, who we lost to stillbirth when I was 36 weeks pregnant. It was several years later that I decided to go back to school and pursue counseling. I want to help people make it through their hard places, too. 

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This is just the tip of the iceberg, as they say; I am no stranger to challenge, or struggle, or conflict, or trauma, or loss, or any of it.  I’m a first responder wife, and a first responder mom (my son is a firefighter/EMT), and there’s a large age difference in my marriage, and my family is blended- scrambled, really- we’ve faced financial challenges, and we’ve lost a child. I’ve been through the ringer and with the help of my faith and some fantastic counselors, still I rise. And you can too. And I can help.