Helping Others Survive Single Mom Syndrome in La Mesa

I was born in La Mesa in 1960, before all of the rezonings took place.  We lived next door to the famous plumber, A.O. Reed. Directly behind our house was Sunset Park where, believe it or not, the Chargers used to scrimmage! 

The brick building that sat proudly off of the Lake Murray Blvd. exit just below the House of Ice was the hospital I was born in.  Sadly it was torn down years ago.  In 1968 my dad realized that the rezoning was going directly in front of our house so he moved us east just below Alpine. 

As far as I was concerned, he had moved us to El Centro because it seemed like hundreds of miles away from my comfortable childhood home in La Mesa.

In 1989 after my seven-year marriage failed, I began my journey of Single Mom Syndrome, and moved back to La Mesa, The Village as it’s called, to raise my daughter.  I wanted her to go to elementary through high school in the same neighborhood with the same kids.  

I wanted her to feel that warm sense of “neighborhood” like I had when I was a child living in La Mesa.   

I’m happy to say I was able to remain in The Village until my daughter graduated from Helix in 2005.  Some of her best childhood memories are of listening to The Chicken Dance as it blared through the speakers at Oktoberfest, eating warm chestnuts during Christmas in the Village and roaming down La Mesa Blvd. during the car shows eating kettle corn and hanging out with her friends.  Those were such good times.

Being raised in a household with both parents who were married 53 years when my Mama passed away in 2007, I never imagined I wouldn’t be married forever, let alone be a Single Mom.  Growing up in the 60s I don’t ever recall knowing anyone who was divorced.  All of my parent’s friends came in pairs of  two just like the animals on the Ark. 

My 22 years through what I lovingly refer to as “Single Mom Syndrome” were demanding and challenging to say the least, but as I look back I wouldn't change anything. 

There is just so much information that I didn’t have or tools I wasn’t aware of that would have helped me so much—practical advice and guidance that would have enabled me to better provide for and take care of my daughter.  Not being the business minded type, I tended to take direction from my heart which wasn’t always the best way for me to go.

These days, everyone knows a Single Mom, and the statistics don’t seem to be going down in the least. Society seems to just accept it and has forgotten that raising a family is the toughest job in the world, and doing it alone can be downright terrifying.

My purpose for this blog is to provide that practical advice to Single Moms that I didn’t receive to help them through their journey. 

Now that I am on the other side, I want to empower, encourage, and support them by sharing what I’ve learned in the hopes it can help.  I believe that no one has to or should do everything alone.  Sometimes it takes a Village.