Hello everyone, it’s me, Annette and I want to tell you my story. I was born in Italy at the United States Naval base in Naples. My dad was in the military, and my mom followed him to many different spots around the world. I have two older brothers that were also born on military bases, so we have all shared experiences of moving every couple of years. It was a tough life, since you just get established and make friends, and then you have to move.

Eventually, my dad retired from the military and we settled in a suburb of Chicago. This was selected because my mom had relatives in the area. After getting used to bouncing around during my younger years, I ended up with my teenage years being “normal” with a steady high school, friends and activities.

After graduating from high school, I went to college. Actually colleges. The first stop didn’t quite work out for me and I transferred after my freshman year. It’s at college that I met Robert, who would end up being my husband. We finished college and married shortly after. We moved to Memphis and started our family.

Things went well for many years and we had three great kids. Bobby, who is now sixteen, Lauren who is now twelve and Caitlyn who is now nine. Things went well until about a year ago when Robert said he wanted a divorce. This hit me like a ton of bricks. I never saw this coming and going from a partnership of two people taking care of a family to just one took a lot of adjustments. Fortunately, family, friends and others have been very helpful in getting our new family back on its feet.

After being hit with the unexpected divorce, I decided, along with the kids, to make a fresh start. They were all very understanding and supportive and knew that it would not be easy on themselves. New home, new friends, new everything is not easy. Fortunately, my kids are pretty resilient and have handled it very well so far. And I guess I have too!

Well, that’s me. It’s been an interesting ride so far, but I want to think that the best is yet to come!