Decisions and Progress

-

Well, I have come to a decision. After spending a lot of time examining my options, I've decided that I just need to take this one step at a time. So, I am going to take a class this Fall semester toward my Ph.D. program. Hopefully, that will lead to more classes and the eventual dissertation and graduation, but for now, I'm going to focus on one step at a time because, in all honesty, the idea of finishing my Ph.D. seems insurmountable. 

In other news, Liam and I went on our first Summer Adventure as a pair. We had a blast. We went to Honolulu, Hawaii. To say it was breathtaking would be an understatement. We went to the beach daily, ate amazing food, and saw the incredible sites, including Pearl Harbor. The journey there was fifteen hours, but well worth it. We missed Keith terribly while we were gone but rallied together and made the most of our little adventure. Having nearly two weeks off of work was also amazing. Spending all that time with my son was remarkable. The conversations we had and the journey we took together were amazing. I can't wait for our next adventure. 

Though the summer is not quite over, I have learned much about myself and enjoyed myself immensely. I can do hard things, even if I do not like them. I can make decisions and do so well. I am a good Mom, and I'll continue striving for perfection, knowing it's impossible.  

While my present looks nothing like I once imagined, it has possibilities, and I'm glad I stuck around for it. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

HIUS 713-Blog Discussion Thread: Growth in the Post Bellum Economy

-
Image
              The Postbellum American Economy was an irregular period of growth and change, both in the workforce and industry. The experience of American women in the workforce has always been diverse, generally drawing a stringent line between single women and their married counterparts. During a period of intellectual upheavals with the ending of the Civil War, the reforms of the Reconstruction period, changes in American Christendom, and the rising issues of African Americans seeking equality now that freedom had been gained. Often this line was drawn in as a means of defining one’s properness, stemming from “their health, their morals, and the sufficiency of the pay of those living away from home.” [1]   Claudia Goldin states that it was indeed the actions and labor of single women that “shaped female labor force from 1870 to 1920.” [2] From Goldin’s Table: Labor Force Participation Rates of Single Women, 1890 , we...
Read more

Widow

-
Image
Even now, just over four months in, the word widow seems foreign. The first time I used it to describe myself, I cried on the phone to a stranger at the VA. Keith was a central part of my world, and now that world seems smaller and less grand. That world was unbearable in those first few days, but in time, I have learned to manage and carry that pain with me.  Amy & Keith The first days were some of the most challenging days of my life. Without Keith in the world, I could not focus, eat, or understand what was happening and how it was happening. Planning his funeral was one of the worst days. I could not wrap my mind around what I was doing and why. I could not bring myself to the realization that this was happening to us. And still, all I could worry about was Liam and how this affected him.  Now it seems like everyone I know affected by his death is getting back to "normalcy," and we are still back at the beginning, trying to figure it all out. It is strange to suddenly...
Read more

Strother West Roberts (1842-1897)

-
Image
My third Great Grandfather, Strother West Roberts, was born on November 1, 1842, in Blaine, Kentucky, the heart of Eastern Kentucky, to John C. and Esther (Abbott) Roberts. Strother’s younger brother, Reuben C. Roberts, was born the following year on April 9, 1844; three more younger brothers and a sister joined the family. Two siblings, including his only sister Martha, died before Strother was ten years old. By the age of Nineteen, the United States had broken down into the Civil War. Both Strother and his younger brother Rueben were enlisted into the Union Army into the 14 th Kentucky Regiment, Company G, at Camp Wallace in Lawrence County, Kentucky. [1] The Union’s 14 th Kentucky Infantry Regiment of the Civil War was a highly accomplished and engaged unit throughout the intense years of the American Civil War. In its three-year tenure, the unit engaged in many battles from their home city of Louisa, Kentucky, to distant battlefields in Virginia, Tennessee, and Georgia. Stro...
Read more