Article archive / July 1, 2013
Originally published: . Volume 4, No. 11. Source pages: 16.
Having two babies 19 months apart was difficult. Two in diapers for too long strained my sense of humor. Cloth diapers for the one with sensitive skin added to the daunting responsibilities of motherhood. Going to school, doing well, getting a doctorate had been so easy. Going without sleep, without contact with the outside world, immersed in this new reality, strained my sense of order.
Fortunately, those arduous early days are long gone, and I am the proud mother of two remarkable adults. The rewards of raising them to become caring and responsible individuals are beyond measure. They are interesting and fun and wonderful. They are doing well, making their own way in life, and I have been free to enjoy my simple life in the country, and my sleep.
Being happily settled in a rural community, after years of being a mommy in a big city, has helped inspire my new media adventures. I find my immediate surroundings far more fascinating and important than what lies beyond these fields and woods, so once again I am less absorbed in the outside world. This time I'm more focused on what is happening on the land outside my door.
I do have the familiar feeling of having a couple of newborns, though. I am creating a brand new television show, "South River Stories®," and starting a brand new business, South River Stories, Inc. The show gives the business purpose and the business gives the show structure. I need both and I need to raise them to maturity.
I am living the long days and nights of early parenthood. Instead of a newly furnished nursery, I have a newly equipped office. Instead of diaper bags, I have camera bags. Instead of reading stories to my little ones, I am writing stories for a new audience. Bringing order to this new reality is hard work. I need sleep.
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.