This is my journey

This blog is a tool to help navigate my journey through the  challenges of divorce, co-dependency, single motherhood and near-poverty during the '10s.

    The past few years have marked the age of crises, both epic and personal in scope. It seems everywhere you turn there it is that word, "crisis."  We are in a worldwide economic crisis, the environment is in crisis, there are political crises galore. I am in  crisis.
    "Eat snakes"  is a term I stumbled upon serendipitously one day researching something else.
     It comes from an obscure play by post-Shakespearean playwright John Fletcher. It means renewal. It is thought that the phrase was derived  from a snake shedding its skin. There is also speculation that some thought eating such a creature would result in new-found youth. Whatever. Leave it to me to name a blog about renewal and change based on an obsolete idiom.
     I like the phrase because it's a directive and most of my life doesn't have such clear instructions. Not that I will eat snakes, I mean, there is a limit.
    So let me introduce myself and why I'm writing this blog. I am a women in mid-life dealing with the upheaval of divorce, recovering from codependency to an alcoholic and trying to raise my son in a decent and loving home.
    I have significant  challenges.  I was with the same man for 25 years which means pretty much my entire adult life. We were married for 12 years.  This relationship was a very good one in all areas for a very long time. Then it wasn't. In any area.
    My ex is an alcoholic. He doesn't fit the typical profile of a drunk. He didn't come from alcoholic parents. He drank quite moderately or not at all for most of his life. He didn't have a life-long struggle with the stuff: His new addiction was the cornerstone of a raging, epic mid-life crisis.  I am recently divorced.
    I am raising an elementary school-age son who is intelligent, friendly, sunny  and quick-tempered.  I am the sole financial support for my son. I am a journalist underpaid to the point of near-poverty.  I live in metro Detroit where the recession is on steroids. I owe exactly twice as much on my mortgage as the market price for my home. My car is 10 years old. You get the picture.
    I have blessings. My son's smile melts my heart and his intelligence fills it with pride.  My ex adores our son and spends as much time as he can with him.  Ninety-nine times out of 100 he gets it together for our son. When he's not well, (i.e. high) he's not abusive. He lives with his folks  whom I trust and adore, and provide a safety net when he's not well.   I have managed to keep my home in a neighborhood where foreclosures are the norm. I have a job I enjoy despite the pay, and am able to pay my bills. I am healthy as is my son. I have family and friends. 
    This is my journey. As my friend Stacy says, I'm putting new groves into my brain. Making those grooves hurt, but are necessary for my survival in the new world I have found myself in. I hope along the way, you visit and maybe we can learn something together.