Start of the Story

It wasn't like Dorothy, dancing down the yellow brick road to Oz. In fact, it was anything but a fairy tale. Crooked Lines: a Single Mom's Journey began with a divorce and the overwhelming feeling of being alone.

It began with a friendship, two souls tossed overboard and trying to survive.

It began with a young son, who was depending on me to soldier through. And a raft of Jewish holidays that I'd always celebrated with family, and now had to navigate alone.

If you are divorced, you know what I'm talking about.

If you are a single parent; losing your own parents to Alzheimer's and eventually death--

You understand.

Or maybe you just know someone going through this and want to be there for a friend.

I can only say those curve balls keep coming. But friends and rituals and holidays can give us insights that help us deal with them.

I can also say that sometimes, when you least expect it, better things come your way. It could be something cool with your career; or a new relationship that brings it's own transitions to navigate.

What I discovered is what a friend told me: God paints in crooked lines to lead us to the people we are meant to meet.

You can meet that friend (and a lot of others) in this story, as of September 5.