Category: Starting Over
Posts on the practice of beginning again — after a marriage ends, after a career closes, after grief, after illness. What it actually takes to rebuild instead of repeat.
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The Scary Truth
I thought it was just me. Instead, I find it’s every divorced woman I know between 30 and 55, and a few men as well. We’re all clueless about what to do next, and none of us like it. We’ve lost control over our lives. We all had a plan. We all know exactly how…
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Clueless and Good at It
Copyrighted by Lorna Tedder. Originally published in Life in the Third Degree. Since last summer, my life has been in a free fall. Sometimes I think I can see land beneath me. Other times, it’s mist and obscured. I had thought that once the divorce was final, I could get some structure back into my…
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Reclaiming My Life One Footstep at a Time
Copyrighted by Lorna Tedder. Originally published in Life in the Third Degree. Somewhere I read that the first re-decorating a newly divorced woman does is her bedroom. I thought, “Damn! And I have to be normal?” I didn’t set out consciously to gut the master bedroom and re-create it in my own image. Things just…
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Dead Ringer
Copyrighted by Lorna Tedder. Originally published in Life in the Third Degree. He puts the ring on your finger when you’re swearing your oaths, but when do you take it off? When you’re just plain swearing at each other? Opinions do seem to vary. Some say it’s appropriate to remove your wedding band only when…
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7 Steps to Stop Hating Your Job (Part I)
Formerly my official photo. Bold power suit, conservative pearl earrings, and…an asymmetrical haircut in case no one knew I was a closet rebel. It took a long time to make peace with my job after I started hating it. Hating it didn’t happen overnight, and getting back to a place where I was comfortable with…
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My Idea of Profanity
In my world, there are three phrases that are forbidden: From the Bookshelf Rite of Reckoning — a Southern witch returns home to secrets that won’t stay buried. Available direct from the author → “You need to….” I can live the rest of my life without ever hearing this one again. It’s one of those…
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Why Today’s Teens Have Trouble Changing their World for the Better
I’m disgusted. I’m tired of adults—especially teachers and administrators in the education system—who trash-talk today’s teens and say they’re all lazy, don’t want to work for anything, don’t care about anyone but themselves, and never lend a hand to help those less fortunate. It’s not the kids who are a problem. You see, I’m raising…
