My kids and I are used to spending the bulk of each summer in The States with my mom, but this year the three of us will be staying there when the summer ends. And it's time to tell them that their dad and I are splitting up, that the United States will be home for the three of us again, and that their dad will be staying in Europe. This is how it goes.

Music from #Uppbeat

https://uppbeat.io/t/sky-toes/featherlight

License code: RBTLS6UG9SZSQ7S1

It's April 1995 and we are still living in London. I get really annoyed with my husband when he expects me to fly to Amsterdam with our two little boys on my own. This is the story.

Music from #Uppbeat

https://uppbeat.io/t/vince-mcgill/dusty-roads

License code: R8K448LUMV518FXZ

About a year after my mom passes away, my younger son brings me a very special gift. This is the story.

Music from #Uppbeat

https://uppbeat.io/t/sky-toes/roots-and-rosewood

License code: B1SQ9W4FBMLVPKAV

It's the summer between my junior and senior year of college and I decide to spend it in the city where I go to school. I meet a man on the subway who sets the course for my future career. This is the story.

Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):

https://uppbeat.io/t/mountaineer/dont-worry

License code: ODZTRP2PKBBQJZGV

We live in a region where the brood X cicadas emerge every 17 years. I have lived through four of them, 1970, 1987, 2004 and 2021. But it's this last one that is most memorable to me. This is the story.

Music from #Uppbeat

https://uppbeat.io/t/ra/let-the-show-begin

License code: DRDDZW8K9926B4PW

When I see a guest on a morning talk show talk about letting her hair go gray, I decide I want to do the same thing. But it takes me 13 years to actually get there. This is the story.

Music from #Uppbeat

https://uppbeat.io/t/soundroll/reggae-kid

License code: WDBD2WBQTFVZ5X9C

When my husband is diagnosed with a rare kind of non-cancerous brain tumor, we make some new friends.

Music from #Uppbeat

https://uppbeat.io/t/sky-toes/it-starts-with-teamwork

License code: Q96QKZNIFOFJUYQI

Although my husband and I have decided to split up, he still wants me to go to his company holiday party with him. This is the story.

Music from #Uppbeat

https://uppbeat.io/t/ra/lets-get-it

Licensecode: EVFJE6DURIJHQBIY

Now that my kids are in school all day every day, I join a gym for the first time. And it is there that I find myself, Alone With A Stranger.

Music from #Uppbeat

https://uppbeat.io/t/pacific-oaks/cross-country-road-trip

License code: GK0BSDTLJAPM3GM1

About six weeks after my mom passes away, we receive an insulated bag in the mail, and it really throws me for a loop.

Music from #Uppbeat

https://uppbeat.io/t/ra/prospect

License code: CPISWVFKQOOTBTM