I have not only survived domestic violence but I have survived breast cancer too. Years after my divorce I was diagnosed with DCIS (Ductal carcinoma in situ).  When the doctor told me the news I was in shock. My first thought was “Why me? I don’t need another character building exercise”.  I was fortunate that it was caught early and after a lumpectomy and radiation treatment I was cancer free.

Well it’s been over 10 years since my cancer and all my mammographies have been perfect -...

This morning as I was walking to Dunkin Donuts to get my morning coffee I ran into a homeless man. This man was carrying 3 very large garbage bags of empty cans and bottles that he obviously had been collecting and was off to redeem them for cash. This is not the first time I have seen homeless people walking the streets of NYC with their bags of empty bottles, and it’s not just men - it’s women too.

Somehow the fact that I accidentally ran into this man has shaken me and I can’t seem ...

Many of you know that I was brought up in a large Sicilian Roman Catholic family and that the only way to be heard above the roar was to yell. Yes, I come from a long line of expert yellers. When I first met my ex-husband’s family they were also yellers and screamers.

In my world yelling and screaming was the way you showed someone how much you cared for them. In fact, my ex-husband told me once he yelled at me because he cared for me and for years I bought that. 

I now know that “yell...

 “You’re a girl so you are your mother’s problem” is what my dad told me when I was about 5 years old. Dad completely disengaged himself from my upbringing. He also told me that “If he had a son he could do things with a son like fishing and horseback riding”. The message was clear, I was a girl so I was not worthy of his attention.

Those words haunt me to this day. And it’s those words that subconsciously put me on a quest to find “a daddy”. I went looking for someone who...

I’m diabetic. Diabetes runs in my family and I inherited it. Type 2 diabetes runs in my family and I was diagnosed with it when I was nineteen – the same year I got married. My mom told me once after I left my ex-husband that I should have broken my leg walking down the aisle but I didn’t I got married.

A friend of mine told me once that perhaps I became diabetic in the same year I got married as that was the year the sweetness went out of my life. I don’t know about that but I do kn...

Well the jobs report is out and the news is not good – no new jobs were added in August and unemployment remains at 9.1%. My purpose today is not to talk about the unemployment rate but to talk about my reaction to news in general.

I will admit to being a news “junkie” and I am finding that this barrage of horrible news is starting to affect my mood – I need an intervention.  I am especially sick (as I’m sure we all are) of the bickering crap that is going on in Washington D.C. on...

Many of you know that my partner and I found a kitten about 3 months ago and we are enjoying having him in our lives. We have named the kitten Poncho.

Poncho is an active kitten running, jumping, fetching (yes, fetching!) and biting. He does not bite out of meanness; he bites as part of his play. Since my partner takes blood thinners and Poncho does break his skin he is bleeding a lot. So we decided that Poncho needed a buddy. We went to an animal shelter in our neighborhood and found an ad...

Many of you know that my partner and I found a kitten about 3 months ago and we are enjoying having him in our lives. We have named the kitten Poncho.

Poncho is an active kitten running, jumping, fetching (yes, fetching!) and biting. He does not bite out of meanness; he bites as part of his play. Since my partner takes blood thinners and Poncho does break his skin he is bleeding a lot. So we decided that Poncho needed a buddy. We went to an animal shelter in our neighborhood and found an ad...

I received an email from a friend today who felt I would be facing some challenges and his partner told him “Don’t worry about Nancy she is a powerhouse”. I don’t view myself as a “powerhouse” so to hear someone else say that about me is a real boost to my psyche and a great motivator.

There are times when we are feeling overwhelmed by our circumstances and then “out of the blue” you get the boost you need to keep moving to achieve your goals – and yes you are a “powerho...