This is a photo of me with my two wonderful kids on my graduation day. At the age of 57, I graduated from Framingham State University with a BA in Environmental Studies and a minor in Geographic Information Systems (GIS). I started working towards a degree in 1980, when I was 18 years old. But after MANY complicated twists and turns of life, a few college transfers, 6 changes of major/minor, and a 21-year break, I finally accomplished my goal, summa cum laude. You can tell by my smile that I was on cloud nine that day!

One of the “twists and turns” that I’ll mention now, because it turned out to be a major factor influencing the path that I followed to get “here”, was when I became ill and was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1991, on my 29th birthday. I also had a miscarriage while I was in the hospital being diagnosed, in my 12th week of pregnancy. This happened just 6 months after getting married. It was a very dark, difficult, and depressing time for me. Because of MS, I had to stop working, abandon my career, learn to accept my new reality, and re-discover my identity. I had to set some new goals for myself and move on. I’ll be talking a lot more about that.

Now my oldest is entering his senior year in college, and my youngest is entering his freshman year in college. I have been divorced for almost 10 years, so this fall I will have an “empty nest” for the first time. I feel like I’m closing one chapter and beginning a new one, which is the perfect time to start a new blog, right? Stick around to see the cool stuff that I have planned!

Grow and be well,

Lauren