Robert StGenis Voice empowered

Autumn was left with virtually nothing following the storm. She was able to return to the apartment and recover some clothing and small items, but most everything was destroyed by the wind, rain and the physical impact of the tree and roof collapsing on our home. The whole situation seemed surreal to me, but Autumn's life seems to take many surreal turns. Autumn wasn't sure where to she was to live. Her apartment was actually a condominium and while the owner was, of course, going to get the place repaired, it could take months. It didn't seem the owner offered to do anything to help Autumn in the interim and I guess their lease didn't have any provisions requiring the owner to do so. She tried to crash for the short term on a couch of a friend and his wife, but she didn't buy into the idea. One night she slept under her desk at work, being discovered the next day. She dismisses this as not significant. I don't buy it. Add that she was carrying on a relation...

Autumn had worked as a government contractor for the same firm for roughly a decade. She had been able to work from home for most of this time, making it very plausible to maintain the position some 40 plus miles away in one of the nation's heaviest traffic regions and to give birth and raise her 2 begin raising her 2 boys. However, Autumn never really wanted to move this far away from her office. She didn't want to move far away from being "inside the beltway," not because of political ambitions, but just it was what she had grown to be comfortable with in the region and felt it best for her and her family overall. It was Dave that decided to move them further out. Ironically, Dave was also born and raised inside the beltway and his large family is mostly still there with whom he maintains regular contact. Autumn reluctantly moved after the birth of their first son for Dave. Autumn secured her work from home assignment mostly for Dave. Autumn sat without any advanc...

I have 3 female friends and family members presently going through or recently have been through a divorce. I want to share some of their stories. I am not using real names so they remain apart of my life and I don't potentially harm their children. First off, the divorce of Autumn... Autumn and I have been friends since high school. I don't really recall how she came to join our group that day, but she joined us on a day trip to an amusement park. It's the 80's, so 6 of us load up in my Oldsmobile and jump on the NJ Turnpike and are off to Great Adventure, all 14-17 years old. Our parents didn't have GPS tracking from the smartphones we didn't have and no adult chaperone. They just assumed we'd find our way home by around 11 pm that evening, two hours after the park closed. In this case, I don't recall our really doing anything that stood out in our activities, but I was new to the school, having transferred to public school from a private school in...

I've come to realize again and again as an adult that this is simply not true. In my opinion, in general, men, at least those I know around my age, find it harder to fall in love, tend to be more afraid of commitment, but then lock themselves in and are not quick to leave an empty marriage.  This doesn't mean they won't cheat, but they are more secure with the life they know the world unknown. Women have historically felt a need to succumb to pressures to appease societal expectations, first and foremost those of family waiting for the wedding, the children, the home, etc. Men do face some of this pressure, but not nearly to the same extent and in most cases, men can more easily suppress such family pressure and in today's world, their friend's and workplace are not as likely to be questioning or pressuring their "family values."  I do believe, in general, women are more prone to want to be in relationships and have a family and while much more committed...

My Grandmother (Nana) I think really was ready and enjoyed her retirement. She became a single Mother when my Grandfather died in the 1950's and she spent over 20 years working at Macy's. She liked to read, needlepoint, and had spent much of her life alone. She loved time with her Grandchildren and maybe her children (I'd say she wanted to more than often the reality), but she was fiercely independent and didn't need someone with her at the dinner table or even when she traveled. She was bringing herself down to meet us at our place in Bethany Beach, Delaware from New Jersey on her own in her 70's. Short of her, I don't recall anyone that really seem happy retired. No matter their financial situation, they are always fearful they will run out of money. I've seen this with people with literally millions in the bank and an income to more than cover every expense. From my Grandparents to Aunt and Uncle and many others,  all wait until retirement to take these...

We have always been quite charitable. We certainly know others who are all the more giving of their time and funds. We know many others who are far less generous. It is always interesting to see what draws people to various causes. I don't believe one does anything without a selfish motivation. This isn't a bad thing. We need a motivator. It can be something that provides solace, something that provides vindication, a simple sense of giving back, but we need a reason to decide to commit to the mission of the organization. The idea that we do things totally selflessly is really bullshit at the end of the day. Far less effort would be put into development, which is the hardest part of any non-profit, if that were the case. The amount of funds we give to various causes depends on how well we are doing financially and other goals. It doesn't really have a precise formula. My husband feels a bit more need to be giving than I do when the coffers aren't as full. He seems to ...

I've always found cleaning out closets, donating items from clothes to furniture and everything and anything else quite therapeutic. There is that sense of giving, of helping others. There is sometimes a sense of literally taking weight off your shoulders; just too much clutter and cleaning through things, straightening them out brings a greater sense of order. There is, if I am completely honest, also a sense of pride in knowing I can part with things, I can get others. Our upcoming move is giving me an opportunity to once again "clean house" perhaps more than the last 2 moves. For one, my agenda isn't as overloaded work wise. This is beginning to cause financial anxiety, but that is a different topic for a different blog (or blogs). While where we are moving is almost as large is here, the layout is different and  overall more usable. We have also been dragging things from the last 2 moves that were never meant to be here and we intentionally bought furniture f...