I was lucky enough to give birth to two of my very best friends. Nicole and Claire. This post is about Nicole and how totally awesome she is. Nicole is 20 years old. She is the only good thing that came out of my first marriage. Her dad and I were married for almost 10 years before I finally threw in the towel because there just wasn't any other option. If I had stayed with the man there is no doubt in my mind I would probably not be here today. I left her dad when she was just 5 years old. It was not an easy thing to do but I did it for my daughter so that she would not be any more affected by him then she already was. He gave up his parental rights to her in 2017, right before we made our move to the PNW.
Nicole was named after one of my best friends from school, Nicole Coffee, although her dad may claim she was named after him, but she is not. She works her butt off at a Cruisin Coffee stand in Bellingham, WA and is a great fur mama to her kitties. There is not a day that goes by that we don't talk. In fact, she and I are in Seattle today to go to Capitol Hill Block Party that she has been excited about for the past month. I don't know how many other mothers are going to be in the crowd and I don't know too many of the songs these girl bands are going to play but I do know I am very honored that she asked me to come with her. When I was her age there was no way I would have even suggested my mom attend any thing with me. But my relationship with my mother is very different from my relationship with my daughter. Nicole has been with me through some really rough patches, and even though we have had our problems, she knows I have her back and I know she has mine. My therapist recently reminded me of just how lucky I am to have such a relationship with my kid while I was complaining about being broke all the time. It really helped me put things in perspective. I mean sure there are lots of people out there with nice new cars and nice big houses but very few of them have as close of a relationship as I do, and many of them would give it all away if they could. I taught my daughters to value people and relationships over money. However, in a society that is driven by the all mighty $, my values don't pay the bills. So hopefully someone will read my post today and buy us a coffee while we sweat our asses off at the Capitol Hill Block Party today! Pics will be posted ASAP. Love you all!